The Exile of Rama
by wiz anonymous
Summary: After Albus's death,Aberforth talks to Harry and sends his consciousness tumbling back in time,with a message for Albus;"the ritual of 'exile of Rama' has been performed"!
1. chapter 1 to 4

**Questions**

Albus was gone. The only thought that kept repeating in his mind again and again was that his mentor, the only person he looked up to, his grandfather in all but blood, was gone. Sitting there at his funeral, he could think of nothing else that he wanted more than him to come back, ok, may be Sirius, but Albus came a close second.

And yet, so many thoughts were vying for his attention. Where was the original horcrux? Who was this RAB, who had sent them on a fool's errand, which had cost headmaster's life? Why did the locket look familiar? Some memory seemed to be tugging at his mind. He had seen that locket before, something similar to it at least, he was sure. But where?

How could Snape kill Albus? If anything, Snape was extremely loyal to Albus,and yet,he had killed the headmaster. And all the while, Albus had been pleading with him.But pleading? Was there more than met the eye? Surely the headmaster realized the futility of his situation.? Why would he plead with Severus. Was he in fact pleading with him to maintain his cover, because there was anyways no hope for the headmaster? No, it couldn't be. If Snape so wanted, he could have easily taken out all of them single handedly,of this he had no doubt. Then why?

Will he be able to find the other horcruxes? They had taken out the diary and the ring. There remained the locket and Nagini, something of Helga, something of Rowena and something of Godric. But the million pound question, what were they, and how would he find them?

So many questions and no one to answer them!

**More Questions**

Aberforth watched with beady eyes, a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew the identity of most of them now, but he did not know their location, worse, he did not have the power. Only Albus was the one that he could really have faith in who also had the necessary power. He dared not discuss this in his department. He knew there was a leak in there, for are not all governments sieves? They hardly hold any secrets. And a secret this monumental? No way! He could not let anyone in the department know.

What could he do now? Had Albus got the one he went after? How would he know? His department had informed him that the potter boy's invisibility cloak had been found at the murder site. Had Albus taken him along? He wouldn't dare! It was too dangerous. But then, Albus thought very highly of the potter kid. If one were to believe him, and believe he did, the boy had already faced the dark lord five times after that fateful day, and come out victorious on three of them without help. Had he not conjured a patronus at age thirteen that had chased away a hundred dementors? Did he have the power to feed the ritual? Even if he had, would he do it?

Aberforth turned to look at the boy who sat in the end at a corner with his friends. He seemed to be lost, but his eyes had questions. What did he know about the boy? okay, here goes, excellent flier, good at defense, above average in other subjects, best friends were a poor pure blood and a muggleborn, lived with muggles before coming to Hogwarts without any idea of magic. Okay, this might work. But then, he also had not had a happy childhood. Would he agree to go there again?Only the boy could answer them.

It was time that he, Aberforth Dumbledore, talked to one Harry James Potter..

**Discussions**

"Hello Mr. Potter."

Harry focused on his surroundings when he felt eyes on himself. He immediately noticed an old man who looked very similar to his headmaster, but was distinctly someone else. For one, there were no twinkling stars within the eyes. Then there was that distinct black beady character in the gaze, Albus's had always been soft twinkling blue. So this man was definitely Albus's relative, probably his brother. As Harry watched, the man got up from his seat and walked towards where Harry was sitting with his friends and thusly he found himself being addressed.

"Hello sir, do I know you!"

"Oh how rude of me, no. you will forgive my manners, mr. Potter, But Albus's passing has me a little shook up. We had so many plans to cover, and now he is gone before their conclusions. But more than that, I miss my elder brother. I am Aberforth Dumbledore, Mr. Potter, and if you will permit, we need to talk about a few things which can not really wait." the man finished easily in a self assured manner, which was neither commanding, nor belittling, just a-matter-of-fact type of tone.

Harry blinked. He did not know that Albus had a younger brother. But he also immediately realized that he was being asked to take his leave from the proceedings at the earliest so that they could talk away from prying eyes and ears.

"Sir, I think we are done here for the day. Just give me a few minutes and I will be with you shortly. Am I allowed to bring my friends?" Harry asked. He knew he had several tasks to perform, and faster he got around accomplishing them, the better for all involved. Perhaps, Aberforth could help.

"I am sorry, Mr. Potter, but I must request you to come alone. Some things that I have to tell you, I am sure have already been conveyed to you by my brother, while others may be what he intended to tell you in time, but there are some things that he would never have expected or allowed me to tell you to even consider. He loved you too much for that" Aberforth replied, reminiscing about albus.

Harry acutely felt the pang of his loss at those words. He knew that Albus loved him dearly, just like Sirius, just like his parents. Why did all those who loved him have to die? Each one of them was lost while trying to protect him, why couldn't they be a little bit selfish and save themselves? Was he really worth all their sacrifices?

Silently he nodded, and looked meaningfully at his friends. They were feeling quite uneasy since the arrival of Aberforth, since none of them had probably met them before, but Hagrid looked on unfazed. So he must have met him before. But no one spoke a word and looked at him, telling him silently that he might as well go.

He walked to the white tomb of the greatest wizard he had ever known, and touched it with reverence. There was no escaping the fact now. He was gone. Forever. He would no longer look in those maddeningly twinkling eyes, he would no longer be offered those lemon drops at every meeting, for there would be no meetings. So many things that would be no more. Finally, he felt something inside him break at this acceptance and he wept. He wept for his loss some silent tears, and before anyone could reach forward to comfort him, he vigorously wiped them off.

"Where would you like to talk, sir?" Harry asked the old man.

Please Harry, it is just Aberforth, no sir. And don't you have a room somewhere in the castle where we could talk?" queried Aberforth.

"Its Harry then, and yes, there is one such room. Please follow me sir. Hermione, Ron, I will meet you in the common room after I have talked with Mr. Aberforth." Harry turned to his friends after he had answered Aberforth, and without waiting for their answers, walked off towards the castle, Aberforth in tow.

**Some Answers**

Not five minutes later, Aberforth and Harry were ensconced in a look alike Gryffindor common room, but were sitting in the room of requirements. Without any preamble Aberforth spoke.

"Harry, before I begin, I must ask if you know from where Albus was returning. As far as I know, he was scheduled to make a trip to the cave, and I presume you went with him. If it is true, you must tell me if you two were able to procure the locket?"

Harry looked at Aberforth with his mouth agape, dumbfounded. He was of the belief that only he and Albus knew all the details about the horcrux besides Voldemort, and here was a man, who spoke of the trip to procure a horcrux as a stroll in the park. Seeing his expression, Aberforth became exasperated and continued.

"Come on Harry, you could not have expected Albus to continue the search for horcruxes, with the possibility that they be anywhere, and simultaneously run the school..?"

"Oh, it seems that you did. Let me tell you young man, that I had the utmost confidence of my brother, and that I was his eyes and ears in hogsmeade. Surely you must have known that I own the Hog's head?"

Harry did not know what to say. He looked on dumbfounded.

"It seems I will have to do all the talking, hmmm. But before I continue, you must answer the question I put forward to you..." Aberforth said.

Harry came out of his shock and looked at the man. He had a sense of relief on hearing that Albus shared the information with someone else. A task, which a few minutes ago seemed to be daunting, nearly insurmountable, now seemed so much more achievable.

"No sir, we did not find the horcrux there, instead, there was this fake in its place", Harry said, as he took out the locket which he now carried with him always.

Aberforth took the locket from his hands and looked at it. He then opened it, and read the note which was placed inside. He then started to laugh.

"Oh Regulus, so you finally grew a backbone in the end! I always wondered why he killed you." turning to Harry, he grew serious once more.

"Harry, I know you have been living in 12, Grimauld place. Have you seen a similar locket there, by chance? One, which more resembles the one you saw in the memory obtained from Hokey the elf?"

Suddenly Harry remembered where he had seen the locket. It was the same locket that they were unable to open in the summer after their fifth year when they were cleaning 12, Grimmauld place.

"Yes, it was there. But, but, we threw it out probably. If not, Fletcher must have got his hands on it and already sold it off!"

"No matter. At least we now know where it might be. And it brings us to the more pertinent question, do you know about the other horcruxes, and where they might be?" Aberforth immediately got down to business.

"Sir, before I tell you what I know, who was Regulus?" Harry asked.

The old man looked at him with sad eyes and said," Your godfather had a brother, Regulus Acturus Black. He became a death eater immediately after graduating from Hogwarts', but was killed after a few months by Voldemort himself in a fit of rage, as told by Severus. On the matter of Severus, I also have to tell you something else."

Harry's eyes clouded with rage on hearing the name of the traitor." Don't you dare talk about that vile traitorous scum bag! What do you want to tell about him that I need to know? The only thing worth knowing is that the next time we meet will be the last for either of us, hopefully him!" Harry raged

"Hold your horses, young man! You don't know shit about Severus, so don't you dare sully his name. He has done more for the cause of light than anyone else except Albus, your mother or you! So you will listen to me quietly while I tell you the truth about the matter and you will respect him for his contribution in this war, if not for teaching." Aberfoth bellowed.

Harry was suddenly intrigued. What was the truth? Was he thinking along the correct stream of reasoning earlier?

"Yes sir", he simply said.

"Even before Severus fired off the killing curse, Albus was dying! The curse which was in the ring could not be countered, in spite of the best masters of light and dark, Severus and Albus. You will be surprised to know that Severus is the equal of Voldemort in the dark arts. He only lacks the Parseltongue magic and a bit of power! Albus made Severus promise that no matter what, he would not blow his cover. So, if you tell me what exactly happened on that tower, I might be able to put things in perspective for you."

And with those words, everything fell in place for Harry.


	2. Proposal

HARRY'S POV

After an hour of discussion, some conclusions were drawn. Albus was already dying. So, he pleaded with Snape to become the most coveted death eater by killing him, because they was no chance that he could save Albus without blowing his cover. And since Albus was anyway dying, his death may as well be put to good use.

There were six and not seven horcruxes, for the seventh part of the soul was Voldemort himself. Also, few things that Harry did not know earlier were told to him by Aberforth. The diary and the ring, being the first two horcruxes, were capable of stealing life from a possessed soul. Since they were already destroyed, the other horcruxes were merely holding him to this plane of existence, but could not come to life, like the diary was about to.

The remaining horcruxes were the locket, Helga's cup, Nagini, and most probably Ravenclaw's diadem. When Aberforth described the diadem to Harry, he remembered having seen something like it in the room in which he had hidden the potions book of 'half blooded prince'. So they stepped outside, changed the room in one in which things could be hidden, and found the diadem. Aberforth confirmed that it was Rowena's diadem, and after some testing, it was verified to be a horcrux.

So they now only had the cup to locate!

ABERFORTH'S POV

So Albus had indeed taken the boy with him on the horcrux hunt. And that was probably what had enabled him to return alive to the castle; otherwise he might have perished in that cave itself. But the big question was, do they continue forward, or should he present his idea to the boy? What was the possibility of their success now? More importantly, while they hunted for the last horcrux, who would keep Voldemort in check? No, their only option was to discuss his plan, and if the boy agreed, to execute it, for he was pretty sure after the time spent in his presence that the boy had enough power to pull it off.

He watched the boy analyzing all that they had discussed. The boy had no idea what he was thinking. So it was time to present his plan, right?

"Harry, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to consider it very carefully before you answer it. I can give you some time, but not lot of it, because we are running short of time. With Albus gone, there is no one to check Voldemort. So, I would appreciate if you decided quickly. Can you do this?" asked Aberforth

"Sir, I will do my best. But what is the question? Harry replied, breaking his musing and looking up at him.

"If given a chance, will you like to live you life again, probably from age of 7 onwards, with the present memories?"


	3. The Exile Of Rama

Aberforth Dumbledore was an UNSPEAKABLE!

Apparently, unspeakables, while doing department approved research, were allowed to do one research of their own, utilizing department resources. They were also not required to make any sort of disclosures about their project, except that the current head of the department must know what the project entails, and should be regularly briefed about it, but no documentation was to be submitted for department records.

Aberforth's research had been on a topic, which would be close to any muggleborn's, or half blood's heart; he was working on a spell to render wizards magic less for a duration of time, which extended in years. He had targeted for a duration of two years. The purpose of the spell was to punish bigoted purebloods, who were caught tormenting muggles, muggleborns or even half bloods. The spell had been completed, but it had an interesting side effect.

For a duration of two years after it was cast, the spell would continue to strip of the wizard's magic. Most of it would dissipate as wild magic. However, a miniscule amount would keep accumulating in the core as inaccessible magic. Over time, a lot of magic would be accumulated in the body and it's surrounding, attracted by the core, but unusable by the wizard. But the problem arose when the duration of two years would end.

Calculations showed that in the average wizard, once the spell wore off, and his magic started to return, this magic would simply discharge. However, in case of a wizard with more than average power, this accumulated energy would be ripped off from the person's body, unraveling the fabric of time and space, and drag the wizard's consciousness back in time. The degree of unraveling would depend on the power of the wizard. The maximum that the wizard would be thrown back would be twelve years, depending on his power, expressed exponentially. Power to push the consciousness beyond that could not be sustained by human body.

Combining the twelve years with the two years spent as muggle made a total of fourteen years, the same as were the number of years spent by an Indian god's reincarnate Rama, in exile, as per Hindu mythology. As such, the spell was christened as the ritual of "Exile of Rama". Aberforth had finished this way back in 1986, and was still trying to refine it. It was this spell that Aberforth had proposed to use on Harry so that he could travel back in time, and warn Albus, so that Voldemort may not arise, and if he arose, he may be finished off faster.

Aberforth himself could not undertake the ritual, because his body of 130 years, 10 years back from now, would not allow the merging of the two entities. Anyone beyond the age of his magical maturity, 17 years, when the consciousness arrived back in time, would not be able to assimilate it.

"So you want me to go back in time and warn Albus that Voldemort is hanging on in this plane of existence because of his horcruxes, and that I should tell him what the horcruxes are, so that his wretched existence could be dissipated even before he gains a body." Harry asked. And suddenly he realized that he would know where Pettigrew would be hidden, and he would be able to free Sirius! And Sirius would not die this time!

And he would live with Sirius! Oh sure, he would do it. Why should he not!

"You must realize that you would have stay hidden for these two years, because if you die before the completion of the two years, nothing goes back. However, you have an advantage, which I failed to mention. Apparently, once you are hit by the spell, nothing associated with magic can see you, and vice versa. No magical creature, no wizard. Squibs may be able to see and interact with you, but I am not sure!"' Aberforth said in a very small voice. He was sure that Harry would refuse because of this. How could he stay away from all that he knew for two whole years?

Harry reeled back in shock from the statement. Surely the old man was joking. Two years without any contact with all, then four more years of Dursley hell before he would go to Hogwart's.! But he steeled himself. He would do it for Sirius! Yes, Sirius would be alive. He could not be petty. Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban; couldn't he spend a puny two years in the muggle world? No problem.

"I will do it, I understand. Give me a day or two to make arrangements, and settle my affairs." Harry said.

"I hope you understand that once I put this spell on you, you will be for all purposes, dead to the magical world. And no one must know, if word somehow reaches Voldemort that you are magic less, effectively defenseless, he would unleash a score of muggle assassins on you, whether he can see you or not!". Aberforth said in a tone which held a warning, and a hint of concern.

Harry nodded his head. He would say good bye to his friends and take out some money from Gringott's and disappear today itself. Heck, he would take it all out and convert it in muggle currency, pounds, for this world was anyway going to unravel. And he would train himself in non magical things in these two years. Wizarding law? Physical combat? Oh, he would think of things and do them.

That same night, Harry disappeared with all his money from gringott's as planned. His friends were told that he and Aberforth were going after another horcrux that Aberforth had located, and that they will return by noon the next day, by the latest.

The very next day, somewhere in India, after completing the spell on Harry, a disheveled and bruised and battered Aberforth, covered in human blood, procured from a blood bank, activated his port key to the Headquarters of the order of the phoenix with the sorrowful news that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived lost his life in an encounter with a Chinese fireball, and his body had been incinerated in the encounter, ashes blown to dust.

At the same time, at an unknown location, Voldemort suddenly lost his magical connection with the boy-who-lived. Tentatively pleased, he called in his inner circle, and ordered them to confirm whether or not the boy lived, for he announced proudly that he had lured the boy in another trap, and he was most probably dead.

The next day's Daily Prophet announced it to all.

_Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, lived no longer_!


	4. The Years In Exile

_There is supposed to be a chapter here titled "Ginny's Tryst with Harry", but I am not currently in the mood. I will probably add it at a later date. It contains their last meeting before Harry disappears in the muggle world..._

In the subsequent two years, Harry kept in touch with Aberforth by means of muggle post. Aberforth had commandeered a post box, to which Harry addressed all the mail, and he was kept updated to whatever was going on in the wizarding world.However, the unsaid purpose was to inform Harry of the location of the last horcrux if and when Aberforth found it. And find it he did.

Apparently, Voldemort had given one horcrux each to his most loyal death eaters, Lucius and Bella, as a show of his trust and to make them feel honored. While Lucius had kept the diary in his personal custody at the Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix had preferred to lay faith in the securities of Gringott's.Helga's cup was lying in Bellatrix's bank vault!

Now that Harry knew about all the horcruxes, he suddenly realized that he did not know the original location of the ring horcrux.So he asked Aberforth about that.Aberforth informed him that the ring was hidden in the Gaunt shack, which he had seen in the first memory in Albus's pensieve.

During his correspondence with Aberforth, Harry learned a few interesting things. Apparently, the Department of mysteries received no financial support from the ministry, which is why it did not answer to the minister. The department maintained its funds by a simple means, which was actually an oversight on the goblins part. Goblins decided the exchange rate between the galleon and muggle currency only once in a century and it was altered only at the turn of a new century! Normally, this did not produce any problem, but in the current century, the rate of rise of inflation in the muggle world was much higher than in the wizarding world. As a result, although the exchange rate for a galleon was five pounds, the gold coin was worth actually about 55 pounds in the muggle world. The DoM had been using this to finance its researches for the last forty or so years.

During his stay in the muggle world, Harry made a few acquaintances, one of whom was a broker in the national stock exchange. During one of their conversations, Harry realized the immense potential of the stock market, and hired him for a year to research and enlist the best shares to buy and when to sell for the duration 1987 to 1997.He told him that he was merely fascinated by the market, and that the study was to be for purely academic purposes. The stock exchange to be studied was conveniently chosen to be LSE.

During this period, Harry concentrated his time on physical combat training, among other things. Aberforth told him that it would help him immensely if ever he was wandless, because wizards generally never learned these things. Simultaneously, Harry also studied three other things; potions, warding and wizarding law.

There were only a few potions that required a person to use magic. Hence, Harry honed his potion making skills during his exile, since he knew he was a decent cook, so should be a reasonably good brewer. By the end of his two years, his efforts had started bearing fruit.

Warding was one aspect, which had intrigued Harry, ever since he was told that it was due to the blood based wards at his aunt's house that he had to stay with them. What he discovered during his study infuriated him. Apparently, if he lived in close proximity, it would have been sufficient, like at Mrs. Figg's house! It was at that moment that he realized that Albus had chosen the easy way out when it came to choose his guardian. No one had even bothered to even check whether he was alive or not during those ten years!

This made him reconsider his priorities and objectives. Apparently, what mattered to Albus was only the greater good. No doubt the man was a great wizard, and a good leader, but personally, he was condemned to ten years of hell so that there would not be a chance that he grew up loved and with his own opinions in life. Albus had made sure that Harry would arrive at Hogwarts starved for love, and a show of even small amount of affection and care would be enough to win him over. No wonder then that the Slytherins hated him so much!

Wizarding law was something entirely different. Because wizards lived to a ripe age of 200 or more years, most of the law makers were deeply steeped in old ways and traditions, which had become outdated in the muggle world about hundred years ago. The wizengamot desperately needed fresh blood and a widening of their horizons. Why, even their leader of light, Albus himself, had endorsed laws which limited the rights of the werewolves and such other creatures!

So it was that the end of two years found Harry at an interesting point in life. He now had been living outside of all bigoted influences in a free society for some time, and realized that the wizarding world needed to change if it was to survive. It was simply heading towards implosion at the current rate. It was also then that he realized that Voldemort was just a creation of that bigoted and cretin society. If there was no imminent course correction there would be numerous Voldemorts in the future, and there may not always be a prophesized savior. He would therefore bring revolution to the wizarding world.

_Just you wait,wizards, here I come!_


	5. The Return

**The Return**

I f anyone walked through Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey, they would find a non descript suburban locality, like so many others around London. Little text book type houses with same painted lawns and small gardens, same walkways, same alleys, and the very familiar park after every few blocks. Nothing special really.

But in this not special place lived a very special boy, a wizard. A wizard by the name of Harry Potter. And the best part was, the boy did not know that he was a wizard. But this was about to change. Soon. Very soon.

On a sunny afternoon, during the school holidays, when almost all kids were inside their houses, away from the harsh glare of the sun in a sweltering weather, a little boy, who looked about a little more than five years old, but was actually about seven, was sitting on his knees in the garden of 4, privet drive. Very odd. But what was odder was that the boy was weeding the garden!

Yes, Harry Potter, soon to be seven, a wizard, was weeding his aunt's garden on this sunny afternoon, sweating profusely all the while, and silently praying to whatever Gods that were listening, that he be able finish the task fast, or he would surely have severe sun burns. Suddenly, he stopped weeding and just sat there, his eyes unfocussed, staring at nothing in particular. I f one were to see him then, they would say he was just day dreaming, like any other child his age. But truth was far from it!

A turmoil was going on in the mind of the little boy. Scenes flashed in front of his mind's eye, like a movie on a fast forward mode. He saw himself growing up, apparating (what's that) to the school roof, freeing a large snake in the zoo. A very weird letter which came for him, followed by a hailstorm of similar letters. A large man called Hagrid, who told him that he was a wizard. Diagon Alley, Gringott's, Hedwig. Hogwarts. He saw little boys and girls like himself, holding wands, running in the castle. He saw himself on a troll's back. And so many other things. He saw his friend Cedric die, he saw a monster return, he saw his godfather disappear behind a veil, and he saw his mentor, close to a grandfather, die. And then he saw the ensuing two years. He saw the horcruxes. He saw himself learning how to brew potions. He saw himself learning wizarding law. He saw himself memorizing a research booklet on LSE.

And then he smiled. He was back.

_Watch out wizards, I have come!_


	6. First Step

**First step**

He needed accomplishes! He could not begin his activities in such a small body. Before he knew it, he would be dead, or worse, mobbed in Diagon Alley. So, diagon alley was out. And Knockturn Alley was no place for a seven year old kid. He would be mugged and killed the moment he turned in to a dark corner. No, he needed grown up people, at least a grown up body, and he needed some money. Time to get in to action!

Petunia was sitting by the window, listening to the new family's chatter that had just shifted in 6, privet drive. She saw the little boy walk to her from the back door. He stopped a few feet from her.

"What do you want, boy?"

"Aunt Petunia, can I go to the park?"

"Have you cleaned the shed?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"And have you weeded the garden?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"And have you pruned the roses?"

"And have you cleaned the car?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"And did you wash the dishes after lunch?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"And did you put out Dudley's laundry in the basement?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Petunia watched her nephew. Such an abnormality should not be allowed to exist! Although he did help her out a lot around the house, such freakishness was just not normal! She was sure he would end up just like her despicable sister, with.., with.., magic! She was so thankful her dudders was normal!

"Boy, be back before dinner. If you are late, be prepared to go to your cupboard hungry!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"Okay, get lost. And don't you dare bother any of the decent folks and their kids in the park!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"Oh, just go away."

----------------------------------------

Mark was 60 years old. His wife had died when he was 44 from cancer. 3 years after that, he had retired from his local nursery, where he used to work as a helper. 7 years later, he had to come out of retirement because his son-in-law had died, leaving behind his daughter and their two children. Maggie was unable to care for both of them on her own. So he had taken up the job of caretaker at on of the parks in Surrey, the one in little whinging.this was where he had spent his days for the last 6 years. Every single day.

When you sit in a place for such a long time as he had, especially in such a public place as a locality park, you see lots of things. Some good, some bad; some strange, some not so strange. And some just the usual things. Like the little thugs that traumatized that kid, Harry.

No matter where you lived, there were bound to be some hoodlums in your locality. Usually, they were the run of mill bullies, like Dudley and his gang, who would gang up on children their own age, snatch their lollies, taunt them, and sometime even hit them. But when it came to Harry, they were a bit more vindictive. They would chase the kid, and beat him, that is, if they could catch him. And when they could not catch him, they would threaten those little children who tried to be friends with Harry.

So he had taken the kid under his wing. Some times, he would tell him stories. Sometimes, they would just walk around the park, where he would show Harry the nests of the birds, and talk about his plants ant flowers. And little Harry soaked all the attention.

But on this sunny day, in the afternoon, when the sun was beating down on all and sundry who were out of their houses, he had not expected the little kid to walk up to the park, looking for him!

"Good afternoon, Mark!"

"Hello Harry. What are you doing here?"

"What, you don't like me any more?"

"Sure kid, but I meant, this is not the weather for a little blighter like you to be out and about!"

"I came to do you a favour Mark"

"And what is the favour kiddo?"

"First you promise me that you won't ask me from where I got the information, and then, when you make money from the information I brought, you will give me half the profits."

"What money are you talking about Harry?"

"First you promise."

"Okay, I promise. It isn't illegal, is it?"

"No, no, nothing like that"

"Sure then. I won't ask you where you get any information from, and if I make money from your advice, I will give you half the profits. Done?"

"Hmmm, yeah, I guess so. Okay, tell me, how much money have you saved away for an emergency?"

"A little bit, why do you ask?"

"Can you use some of it to invest in some shares? If my information is correct, you will gain a profit of about 400!"

"You are kidding, right?"

"No."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, and the money will be back in your hand in eleven days, that is, if you have some to spare."

"I have almost five hundred pound to spare, if it will be out only for 11 days."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah kid, pretty sure."

"Okay, give me today's paper."

"Here you are, kid"

"Look here, Buy a thousand of these at the latest by tomorrow afternoon, and use the rest of the money to buy the ones of this exploring company. Sell the first one before 2 pm on 26th, and the exploring company's on 19th, four days from now. But make sure to complete the deals before lunch tomorrow"

"How do you know this?"

"You promised not to ask!"

"Okay, but that doesn't mean I am not curious"

"I know, but I cannot tell you. I hope you understand."

"And if this is rotten news?"

"You can ask my aunt to lend me out to you for the summer because I destroyed some of your ornamental plants."

"Deal."

"See you on 19th, Mark."

And just like that, the kid went back to his home.


	7. Closer

_There were some spelling mistakes in the previous chapter. I don't have a beta, and I try my best that there may not be mistakes. But well, you know, to err is human. So forgive me for my omissions and commissions._

Mark had never been so excited for such a long duration in his life! An hour after he had completed his transaction of the shares of the steel company running for so long in losses, a steel conglomerate announced its bid for a takeover of the company. Apparently, the bankrupt company had some captive mines, which the conglomerate was interested in. the price of his shares shot up within hours! They were still rising when he had sold them on 19th June, but at 2 o' clock, the new management had announced that they would be reducing the number of the staff by half, and the company's workers had gone on strike. The share prices plummeted immediately!

Whoever had been the source of the kid was for real! In four days, he had 1600 pounds in his hand from an initial sum of 350 pounds. If he just managed to get 4-5 such more tips, he could go back to his retirement, and play with his grandchildren all day...

The prices of the other shares were also rising continuously after he had bought them. Information had come in from the exploration team in Sudan that they had struck oil, the same day that he had bought the shares! The share prices had seen a steady rise in their prices since then, and they were still rising. I f they continued to rise at the same rate, he would have made almost a thousand pounds from them, and that was after giving the kid his share!

Mark watched as the kid walked over to him that day. He was walking with a confidence in his gait that he had not seen previously in the child, and he was happy for him, for whatever had caused this change. He looked...brighter?! The kid had a small aura around him!

"Hello Mark! How did things go?"

"Harry, from where did you get the information?"

"Mark, you promised you won't ask."

"Yes, that is there. Sorry kiddo, I am just terribly curious about your source. Apparently, it was extremely spot on. You nade a little more than 600 pounds in these four days, and if things go on as they are going, you will have another thousand pounds in your hand on 26th."

"Are you sure you are not pulling my leg? We made that kind of money?"

"Not we, Harry, it was you all the way."

"Mark, you know that it is not true. Now, I have another offer for you. Will you work for me?"

"What do you mean by 'work for you', dear?"

"Exactly that, work for me."

"Emm, how is that supposed to work out?"

"Simple Mark. I know that you came out of retirement because you needed money. So, I am promising you your retirement with monthly pay, if you agree to work for me. The work is simple, you walk up to my relatives, tell them that you want to hire me during holidays full time, and part time during school, and they will be paid 50 pounds a month in holidays, and 15 pounds a month in school session. After that you do some small chores that I give you from time to time. And about pay, how much do you make here?"

"I get 30 pounds a week, Harry, plus allowances for stuff for the plants."

"How about I give you 1000 pounds per month, and you just do whatever small task comes your way, and be on the stand by all the time. Of course boarding lodging would be included for you, your daughter and her kids."

"I cannot take that much from you Harry, and from where do you propose to pay me? And if you have that type of money, why hire me, you could get a professional butler?"

"Its because I like you , Mark. You took care of me when dudders and his gang came after my. Now that I have the opportunity, I want to pay back. And I don't need a specialist; I just need someone whom I can trust. I choose to trust you."

"What about your guardians?"

"Do you think they care? I would not have asked you to act as if you hired me from them, if I did not need to get away from them. Look at my clothes and tell me that they spend a penny on me. Compare me and Dudley and tell me they feed me properly, go ahead!"

"Okay, I understand now. But why do you need me?"

"Mark, most important part of your job is that you will not ask any questions. Can you do that? IF you can, we have a deal, and you are hired from now. Call up your supervisor, and tell him that you are quitting due to a family emergency and won't be coming back."

"If I don't ask any questions, I am hired? Well, I can live with that. Come on then, we will make the call to Jonathan, and we will be on our way. And by the way, keep this package, it has your share."

"Keep it in your pocket Mark, I will take it from you when I need it."

------------------------------------

The afternoon was a little hectic for Mark. After he resigned from his job, he went with Harry to his aunt's house and told her that he needed a helping hand at a new job he was taking, and would she be so kind to lend him her nephew. He told her about the amount she would be receiving for the kid's help, and that she could have it in advance if she wanted. The kid would need to return to sleep in the house, but other than that, he would be with Mark all the time from morning till evening, because he did not have accommodation for helps. Petunia was extremely glad to get rid of the blight on her clean house, and to be paid for that. The only concession that she had to make was that Harry would be given Dudley's second bedroom, because Mr. Mark could not have Harry unrested for the day's work, to which she grudgingly agreed.

After taking the backdoor's key from Petunia, which Harry was supposed to use from now on for entering and leaving the house, Mark left the house and went with Harry to the park to discuss his new job. Harry was very tight lipped about all the details and kept reminding him frequently that he was not to ask questions. They next took a taxi for Charring Street, London.

Upon reaching Charring Street, first thing that Harry did was buy a pair of brown colored contacts at an optometrist. Next he went to a saloon, got his hair bleached to a wheatish complexion. He also asked the person to use some make up on him to hide the scar on his forehead with some cosmetics, which was quickly done. When they emerged from the saloon, Mark emerged from their with his grandson, named Elander, a six year old boy, with wheatish hair, brown eyes, and unblemished skin on his forehead.

Harry then led Mark to a pub called the leaky cauldron, which seemed to jump out of no where, when Harry held his hand and pointed in its direction. The inside was quite dark and filled with curious people, who were equally curiously dressed. He told the bartender, Tom, that, he was a muggle, whose daughter was a witch, and needed some supplies from 'diagon alley' and could he please open the 'portal' for him?

What happened next left him gasping for breath…


	8. Pounds, Galleons & A New House

_**Okay, here is a new one for you. Paul, I made extra time on your request Hope you like it!**_

Had Tom stayed back after opening the portal, he would have noticed the gasping muggle and would have realized that he did not know anything about magic. But Tom did not stay after opening the portal, and it was just regular business for him when he opened the portal for the elderly muggle and went back to his counter.

Mark sucked in his breath when the bricks started to shift, on being tapped by that stick of the bartender. It was like a science fiction movie when they rearranged to show a nicely made arch which led to a bustling alley! He had thought that Harry was pulling his leg when he had been told to act as the father of a witch, but was magic for real? Before he could pursue his chain of thoughts, he felt the tug on his hand and he looked to down to find Harry looking amusedly at his face.

"All in good time, 'grandpa', we have work to do" Harry chimed.

As if broken from a daze, Mark remembered the instructions that Harry had drilled in him when they were exiting the saloon. And so he entered the alley holding the hand of his 'grandson', and followed his lead in which ever direction he was going.

Soon, Mark entered a white building, at the doorsteps of which stood two little monsters!

"Don't stare", he heard a quite whisper from Harry and hurriedly walked on inside the building.

Mark was flabbergasted. The building looked like a bank, just like his 'grandson' had said it would be, but behind the counters sat those little monsters! Swallowing once, he walked up to a counter and repeated what he had memorized.

"Sir, I would like to change some pounds into galleons(?), please."

The little monster (goblin?) looked up at him with what looked to be a sneer on his face. At that very moment, Harry decided that he was not worried that he was profiting from the goblins' oversight.

"And how much would you want to be changed?" asked the goblin haughtily.

"All of this, sir," Mark said, handing over all the money, saving a few pounds for taxi fare to Surrey, and then some. Harry had convinced Mark to lend him all his money for a few hours, and he promised to return it with a lot of interest. Mark did not mind.

The goblin looked at the notes, almost snatched them from Mark's hand and started to count them, while Mark waited and watched. Soon, the goblin finished counting and handed over a small pouch to Mark.

"Here is your exchange, human. The exchange rate for today is five pounds to a galleon, and a five percent commission. You are lucky, it can be as high as forty percent when there is a rush," the goblin sneered again.

Mark picked up the surprisingly light pouch, holding Harry's small hand in his hand all the time. Harry could tell that Mark was extremely terrified and quite confused. He probably did not understand what was going on and his apprehension was understandable. But now was not the time to explain, they had work to do. They headed outside and Harry led Mark to the bookstore, Flourish & Blott's.

If nothing else, Mark followed instructions to the tee. Seeing the book store, he remembered what he had to do. He walked up to the store clerk, and said,"excuse me sir, I am a muggle and would like to buy a squib wand". Little did he know that it would be used to open the portal the next time they came to Diagon Alley, which was going to be half an hour later.

The clerk handed him a small stick about seven inches long which was mildly polished, with a small crytal at one end, without even looking up.

"That would be six sickles"

Harry passed a galleon quietly over the counter and waited. During their trip from the bank to the bookstore, he had quietly taken the pouch from mark and was holding it now.

The clerk returned the eleven sickles without once looking up at them, and returned to the book he was reading when they had entered. Harry again quietly collected the change and placed it in his jeans pocket instead of the pouch.

"Ok Mark, time to leave," he whispered.

Mark perked up on hearing that. Although he was intrigued by all that he was seeing, he was happy to know that he would now be leaving this strange place. He would have loved to explore this place when he was a little younger, but he was no longer young, was he?

The evening consisted of two more quick trips to Diagon Alley, with visits only to the bank, and a stop at a luggage shop where a bag with unlimited(!) capacity was bought and numerous trips all across London to various jewellery shops where the galleons were mortgaged for their value in gold, no more than hundred coins at one shop. By the end of the day, Mark was dazed. He didn't know what to say!

_They had converted their fifteen hundred seventy five pounds to a little more than one and a half million pounds! Those little goblins did not know they were being conned by a kid seven years old!_

During their numerous trips to the jewelers, Harry had made him poach an aged looking goldsmith at one of the shops, who like him, most likely wanted to retire. They had parted over a promise of more detailed discussion over lunch next day about employment and pay. The kid was planning something big! He could smell it.

The last thing that he was made to do that day was visit a property dealer in Surrey before he returned Harry to his aunt's place. Harry made him Ask about properties in the same block in which he lived, privet drive.

The sales agent was a petite female, who was about thirty five years of age. She looked uncertainly at the old man who had walked in with a kid in obviously hand-me-down clothes, which were four sizes too large for him, by his side, most likely his grandson.

"Good evening sir, what may I do for you?" she squeaked.

"Oh, we would like to look at properties for sale or rent in Little Whinging, Surrey. Are there any available?"

"Of course sir, please sit. I will take out the various details for you to look at"

After fifteen minutes, they had selected No. 19, Privet Drive, which had recently been vacated, and was completely ready to be moved in at a minute's notice. The previous owners had migrated abroad, and the house was fully furnished.

The woman looked on as the old man kept asking the small boy about what he liked, and what he wanted. The old man must have liked his grandson to pieces. And boy, was the kid intelligent! He expertly went through the available houses, as if he knew what exactly he was looking for, and surely, after fifteen minutes he had decided what he wanted and told his grandpa so!

The sales woman, Laura Miguel, looked skeptically at their selection. The house was without doubt the best that they had in Little Whinging, but she doubted that the old man had the money to even rent the place, let alone buy it. So she was completely dumbfounded when he agreed to buy the property, and was ready to pay the amount in full after they had seen the property and approved it. Her jaw fell to the ground when she heard that the payment of three hundred sixty five thousand pounds would be made in cash. What kind of people carried that type of money in their pockets? And which pocket could keep that type of money?

Shortly after a flabbergasted Mrs. Laura Miguel left Mark with a new house to his name, No. 19, Privet Drive, mark fell down on the couch in the living room. He had had enough surprises for one day. Never had he dreamt that he would one day be owner of such a palatial three storied house, with its own swimming pool to boot! And to think that all that had been given to him by a kid seven year old, who could not save himself from a gang of hoodlums his own age. At that moment he silently vowed that he would be a devoted employee of one Mr. Harry Potter, as long as he would have him!

"Do you like it, Mark?" the kid had asked.

"What?"

"The house, of course. Don't you like it? Its yours now, you know?" the kid had smiled benignly.

"What.., what..? What do you mean, this is my house?"

"Exactly that, Mark. This is now your house. Of course I would ask you to set aside a few rooms for me, but for all intents and purposes, and in the eyes of the queen, you are the owner of the house. Don't you like it?" He smiled a little more.

It was slowly sinking in. The transaction had all been in Mark Rodriguez's name, his name. Harry had made sure that he was not mentioned any where, and therefore, did not have any hold over the properties. Although this was done to ensure that his relatives could never stake any sort of claim, the boy was now making it clear that the house was essentially his, and not Harry's!

"But.., but.., I can not accept this!" he had exclaimed

"Of course you can accept this, Mark. You have already accepted it Mark. This is my thank you gift to you. You won't turn down my gift, would you," the boy had calmly said.

Mark had spluttered. He did not know what to say!

So it was that he now sat on the couch, contemplating his new life and a new job, and a new house, and a new employer, who was a boy not even seven, and paid him bonuses of hundred thousand pounds! (Harry had insisted that Mark keep the said amount for his own use. The rest was to be put in a numbered account so that Harry could operate the said account without the requirement of a guardian). Mark wondered about the type of life that the kid had had to have known things like numbered accounts and the ways in which he had conned the goblins (the little monsters, they deserved it, they were so rude!). He looked at the boy who was ordering pizzas for dinner over the phone and made a snap decision.

Mark waited for Harry to complete the order and walk over to where he was sitting. After taking his seat, he looked up to Mark, and said "Now here is what you are going to do Mark. Tomorrow, your family will shift to this house, and you will vacate that house in which you are currently staying. No one is to know that i am your employer, not even your daughter. And over the week, you will hire three reliable house help, and one gardener to look after the property. Of course you can do anything you want, this is your house, but I will be paying for those and the upkeep of the house, along with the food bill and the municipality bills. Any questions?"

"You don't need to do this, Harry," Mark said softly.

"Of course I don't. But I am doing it anyways. I think you wanted to say something else."

"Yes. I am going to have a talk with your aunt and uncle and you will not interfere in that talk. Can you do that?"

"What have you planned?"

"You will be moving in here with me. Of course, your address will be the same for all record purposes, and I will procure all mails everyday, and they will still be your guardians on paper, and for school meetings, but you will be living here."

"I can do that, but you have to understand that I am being watched. I need to sleep in that house. I can stay outside as long as I want, but I have to sleep in that house," Harry calmly said. He had not forgotten that the headmaster had told him he had a monitoring device in his office which showed whether he was in his aunt's house or not. If he continuously remained absent, he would become suspicious. Being in the neighborhood during the day was all good and dandy, but night was another story.

Mark was stunned. The kid was being watched! By whom? Why did he not notice any one during their day long trip? "All right, but you will stay here on weekends. Is that possible?" he asked apprehensively.

"I think we can manage that." The old coot won't be suspicious if he was spending weekends only outside the house. All kids go over their friends' place on weekends!

"It is settled then. I will talk to your aunt and uncle about your help job, and your staying arrangements, and you will not interfere, deal?"

Harry grinned. "Deal".

At that moment their pizza arrived, and both of them jumped into their pizzas with gusto. They had done a lot of work that day. They still had a Dursley encounter to weather!


	9. The Dursleys

Vernon Dursley was having a particularly good day. He had completed an excellent deal with one of his clients and had received a wonderful amount as his commission. His boss had called him to his office and had personally congratulated him on a work well done. Perhaps, this time when promotions were doled out, he would also be getting one. It was long over due.

Ever since the boy had entered their lives, he had been short tempered. He had seen the terror in the eyes of his wife when she realized that the boy was her sister's son, and had heard from Petunia the awful things she would do to her Pet. He understood then that his wife would never be comfortable in her own house as long as the boy was there, and the worst part was that they could not get rid of the boy. Their own safety hinged on the boy sleeping in their house, the letter had explained. So he hated the boy for making his wife feel threatened and uncomfortable in her own home.

But today was his good day, really. When he returned home, he had found Petunia in a really good mood after a very long time. She had excitedly told him that the boy had been hired as a help boy by a neighbour, and he would be out of their hair most of the time. He could see the happiness blooming on his Pet's face. Finally, for once, things were looking up in his life!

They had had a very peaceful supper, without the boy to add to the tension. After the supper, he and Duds were watching the TV in the living room when the bell rang.Getting up, he shouted to his wife, "I will get it, Pet."

When he opened the door, he found the little boy standing infront of an old man, probably in his sixties. This must be the man who had hired the boy.

"Boy, you missed dinner," he grunted.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Vernon Dursley. I am Mark Rodriguez. May I come in?" the man with the boy said.

"Oh sure, where are my manners. Sorry, please come in." He looked uncertainly at the boy. "I was just worried about his dinner"

"No worries there, Mr. Dursley, I took care of that. Can I talk to your wife and you for a minute, if you have the time?" the man said.

"Sure, why don't you sit in here, I will just get my wife," Vernon indicated to the couches.

"Thank you, Mr. Dursley."

Shortly, Vernon and Petunia were sitting with Mr. Rodriguez, while the boy stood in the corner of the room.

"Sit, boy. There is really no need to stand there in the corner" Vernon said in what he hoped was a pleasant voice. Appearances are important, no?

The boy looked at him with wide eyes, as if he had grown a second head, and slowly crept to a chair. He sat perched on it precariously.

"Hello, Mrs Dursley"

"Why, hello yourself, Mr. Rodriguez.", Petunia said pleasantly.

"Okay, I won't take much of your time. Mr. Dursley, Mrs. Dursley must have informed you that I requested you allow me to use the services of your nephew. You see, I am an old man, and I have just been offered a new job. The thing is, although my job is home based, I will need to do a lot of running around the house. As you will very well understand, these old bones can't do that," Mr. Rodriguez said jovially

"I already said that you will be compensated for helping me out. But I wanted to just make sure that things were clear between us."

Vernon was ecstactic , but tried not to show it on his face. Finally, he will get the boy out of his hair. He just had to make sure that the boy stayed out for the most of the day. He would have gotten rid of the boy the same day that he was put on their doorsteps, but for that thrice damned charm that required the boy to sleep in the house.

"Yes, we are listening, Mr. Rodriguez," said Vernon.

"I will be keeping him for the most part of the day, if you allow. Mrs. Dursley has already been kind enough to give him the key to the back door, so coming and going should not be a problem.Mrs. Dursley has also promised me that he would be getting a room of his own, which he did not have previously."

Vernon squirmed at the statement. Of course, it was not proper to keep a boy in a cupboard, but he wanted the least reminders of his existence in the house, so that the boy would be out of his Pet's mind. Grudgingly, he agreed that he could not let other people know that the boy slept in a cupboard. "well, you see, we were already planning to give him a new room which we have been preparing for him, a birthday present, you know," Vernon said half heartedly.

The man raised his right eyebrow acidly, then let it pass. "Well, that is fine then. I also wanted to tell you that half of what he will earn will be spent on him by me, and I will give the remaining half to you."

"That is okay by me, but I must ask you to make sure that he returns to the house before its late, he is not to sleep over at your place," Vernon said.

"About that, will it be ok if I keep him on weekends, I may occasionally need to go out of town, and I will like to take him along if you allow."

Vernon was surprised. This man had so much faith in the boy that he wanted to take him wherever he went! Curious.

"You don't recognize me Mr. Vernon, but I guess that I must introduce myself properly. Till today afternoon, I was the caretaker of your locality park, and therefore know your nephew very well. He is a good kid, I have occasionally worked with him on my ornamental plants, and I know he can follow instructions. That is why I approached you specifically."

Well that certainly explained it. "I guess that is reasonable. You were saying about his pay..?"

" Yes, yes. Fifty pounds to you during the holidays, and fifteen during school days. When he is at my place, you need not worry about his meals," Mark continued.

"That is fair enough. Anything else you wanted to tell us?"

"No, but perhaps something you wanted to tell me?"

"umm, nothing that comes to mind."

"Well then, I will be off. See you tomorrow Harry. Seven o' clock sharp. And ah, Mr. Dursley, I forgot to tell you, My employer lives at No. 19, Privet Drive, and I will be working out of that house. So, if you ever need to meet me or talk to me, feel free to walk over."

That house had been empty for several months. Perhaps a new owner had shifted in. That was the centre piece of Privet Drive! He would certainly be visiting.

-------------------------------------------

It was during that conversation when Harry saw a new expression on his uncle's face; relief. Harry realized there was more to his relatives' hatred of him than he knew. He resolved to come back one day when he no longer lived here, and have a man to man talk with his uncle…

All in all, the day had gone off well. He had managed to collect some money on his first outing, so he just needed to hire a broker now. He would also need to set up the potions lab as soon as possible. Lastly, he needed to set up his own jewellery shop, or at least set himself up as an importer of gold; he could not roam about in and around London selling gold coins! Well, the old goldsmith should be able to take care of that. Lastly, he had got his old bedroom four years ahead of schedule.

Yep, things were working out fine..


	10. Plans & A Pleasnt Surprise

During the two years that Harry had been living in India (in exile!), he had frequently thought about how he would carry out all the tasks that he needed to do. And there were a lot of tasks that he needed to do.

Initially, the goal had been to merely let Albus know that Voldemort had made horcruxes years before Albus actually realized, and then pass on the locations of the various horcruxes, so that they could be destroyed. If the horcruxes were destroyed before Voldemort gained a new body, his wraith like existence should also be destroyed and he should pass on into the after life.

Over the two years, Harry had realized that Voldemort was not the real problem. The real problem was the bigoted wizarding society. There were a very few muggleborns joining the society of wizards every year, hence they were a miniscule minority. As such, there were not enough people who were bothered by the problems faced by the muggleborns, even some halfbloods, who did not have monetary clout. This needed to change.

Then there was the treatment of individuals like Hagrid and Remus. Although some would claim that they were the exceptions to their cultures, one could easily see that these people were not given any chance to make a difference in the society. They could give so much to the society, every individual can contribute. So, why shun the werewolves and half giants? In the past, it was understandable that people were wary of werewolves, but wolfsbane had changed that. And Harry had found the two half giants he had met (Madame Maxime was the other one) extremely amicable people.

There was also the matter of Hogwarts. The school may be the best that the wizarding world had to offer, but it was not good enough. All bigotry in the wizarding society had its roots in Hogwarts. 'All slytherins are evil'. 'All hufflepuffs are pushovers'. 'All ravenclaws are bookworms' 'All gryffindors are reckless'. What kind of school teaches its students to stereotype each other for life on the basis of how they thought at eleven years of age? There should be some alternative to the culture promoted by Hogwarts!

To bring about the changes that he wanted, he would need a lot of money. That was not a problem. The problem was that he could not come out in the open. Who would take a kid seven years old sculpting his own world away from the present establishment seriously? Moreover, Albus would immediately put him under house arrest for his own good! So, one thing was clear. Albus would not be informed that Harry had traveled through space and time to the present day to prevent the rise of Voldemort. He would do it on his own.

Once that decision had been made, Harry had planned out in excruciating detail how he would go about his plans. First of all, he needed polyjuice to move about. Since he could not just walk in to a store and buy it, and also because it was mightily difficult to brew, and that the ingredients were costly, he would have to brew it himself. So that alone put him back by almost six months.

Next was the manner in which Pettigrew was to be exposed. Should he just pass on the information to Remus that Peter was alive and tell him to take the DMLE and aurors to arrest the man.? Or should he tell Albus, and let him handle it? Or, like he had planned in his dreams sometime, should he boost Fudge's fragile ego that his predecessor had put a man in Azkaban without trial, and since he was the paragon of justice and fairness, he should ensure a public trial for the convict under veritaserum, and his people would sing his praises! The man was without doubt Voldemort's right hand man, so what did he have to lose? That should be the easiest. If that failed, he always could do the other things.

So many things to do!!

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It was a bright sunny day on 20th of June, 1987 in England. And the perfect day for a bout of shopping. So Harry went about London, to get a new wardrobe for himself, which would be kept at No. 19, not No. 4. He also had a meeting with the old goldsmith later that day.

The meeting with the goldsmith went off without a hitch. The goldsmith was ecstatic to know that Mr. Rodriguez was opening a business of gold import and export, and he would be made a minor partner with a 5 percent share in the business, and that he would have complete control over day to day running of the business. The man, Mr. Arthur Andrews, had been working under other people all his life because he did not have the capital to start his own business. This was a dream offer for him, and he very gratefully accepted his new job. Mark set him off to set up business, and not to worry about expenses.

The next thing that they set up that day was a meeting with a broker. Mark had a nephew from his sister's side who was a broker. He was doing fine in the market, so Mark decided that he would be good enough for the job that they had in mind, with him being family and all. Carl was to receive weekly instructions from Mark, and he just had to follow them. Not a difficult job.

Finances firmly in place, Harry sat down in his room at the newly christened "The nest", and started putting his plans on paper. This was one place where he could work in peace without any worries of being discovered, or being considered a freak for doing magical things. He had claimed the whole of the top floor for himself, and no one was to ever enter the floor, except him. That brought to mind another issue; he would have to hire a house elf for maintaining his floor, he could not do it himself, it was huge!

First the targets needed to be put in order. His first target was to set up Mr. Andrews in the market, so he would be providing Andrews with two million galleons to start the business. He would be melting them and through his connections built over almost forty years, he would be selling them to various establishments all over England, indeed, all over UK. By the end of the month, everyone would know whom to contact, if they wanted to buy gold! If Mr. Andrews so wanted, he could start exporting them. When Andrews was assured that he would get as many coins as he wanted, on an hours notice, his eyebrows disappeared in his hairline. But he knew better than to ask.

Next he had been planning on contacting Remus, and getting him set up with his own business. This would have the added benefit of being able to attract all the werewolves at one place, so that he could start working on their betterment. He only needed to find a business, which would employ a lot of people. Harry decided to start a meat company for Remus and his hairy friends. This company would have a second purpose; they would be supplying all sorts of meats to the goblins and taking off the pounds from their hands. If they were not saddled with a lot of pounds, they would not be worrying about the sudden increase in pound conversions to galleons!

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Remus Lupin was resigned to his fate. He had come to accept that fate did not like him. Beginning from the time that bastard had bitten him, he had known only misery. His parents had wasted all their wealth in search for non existent treatments for his lycanthropy, and the sudden illness of his father when he joined Hogwarts had finished off the family financially. When his father had passed away in his third year from his illness, and grief had claimed his mother the next year, he had become completely desolate.

The Marauders had been a silver lining to the dark cloud that had been his life, and their days spent together in Hogwarts still brought a smile to his lips. But fate could not see him happy. His new family of the marauders had been torn apart by fear of betrayal, and eventually, the worst of betrayals. The war had taken from him whatever he had garnered in his seven years at Hogwarts.

That madman, Voldemort, may he rot in hell, had killed his pack mates, James and Lily. Another pack mate, Sirius had betrayed the pack, and also killed Peter. Sirius was now lying in Azkaban, probably insane, and he, Remus John Lupin, was the last Marauder in the land of the sane and living.

After the debacle, Remus had not joined any pack. He was not used to the life the other werewolves lived, foraging in the magical jungles, in their own packs. They all lived in tattered robes which had been bartered at some time from nearby villages for some fowl, or a pheasant. He joined them on the full moons to run with them, but he could never be a part of another pack, not when they had no control over their own lives.

Control. That one word described why he hated the wolf inside himself. Yes, the pain of transformation was exquisite, but he had learned to live with it. What he had not come to accept was that he lost control of his own self on every full moon night. He would be transformed into a mindless ravaging beast!

Apparently, Remus was one of the luckier of the werewolves. Among the werewolves that he knew, he was the only one who had not been abandoned by his family. He was the only wizard werewolf that had received a magical education, and that too at Hogwarts. Among the four packs of England, and the nine packs of UK, he was a novelty. The packs would draw out lots for Remus to spend the full moon with them. Because of his magical training and his wand, whichever pack he spent his night with, went into the night of the full moon with a feast in their bellies, and another waiting for them, when the night wore off.

Any of the nine pack leaders was ready to submit to him, let him be their alpha, if he ever wanted to live with them. He had the power to change their lives, and his own, if he just wanted to settle down. But they did not know that he was plagued by guilt, by worry, by concern. They did not know that his previous pack mate had been non lycans. They did not know that he had ever had a pack, period. And they did not know that his previous pack mates had a cub, Harry! Who he should have been looking after!

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, had put up wards around his cub's locality that did not allow any magical creatures to approach Harry, until he had either been sent by Albus himself, or had been invited by Harry, or people living in the locality. Since Harry probably had no idea about the magical world, he would never be able to visit his cub. It was only out of respect for the old wizard that he never showered profanities on the old coot.

And so it came us a pleasant surprise when he received a letter in his muggle mail box, requesting to call, because the owner had a job for him, and the return address read no. 19, PRIVET DRIVE! The same street where his cub lived!

Remus had listed himself in the unemployed directory in the national muggle list, based on the degree that Hogwarts gave to those who wanted to live in the muggle world. It showed their results as having taken their A and O level exams in chemistry (for potions), Botany (for Herbology), Biology (for magical creatures), Astronomy, and various minor credits for small project works, based on their NEWTs and OWLs. Apparently, someone had wanted to hire him for some cheap labour, which was how he survived these days, while trying again and again to be able to visit his cub.

Now he would be able to visit his cub!


	11. Bizarre Tales

In 24 hours, Mark's concept of the world had shattered. He was a good Christian and believed till then that witches were the agent of evil. Only God almighty could do magic. Apparently, that was far from truth. More over, creatures like were wolves were for real!!

"The place that we visited yesterday, Mark, was the shopping centre of the wizarding world in UK," Harry had told him in the morning the next day.

"What do you mean by the wizarding world?!" Mark had sputtered.

Harry had sat him down and then told him about the wizarding world. Apparently, there was a group of people born with special powers, which was known as the ability to do magic(!). These people were called wizards and witches. They had their own hidden world from the rest of the mankind, and these hidden places were present in all the major cities of the world. And they had a school in all the countries which taught magic! The one in UK was somewhere in Scotland, and it was unplottable.

To top it all, there were other magical creatures, which in the present day world were thought to be fantasy; werewolves, centaurs, vampires, elves, fairies, dragons, griffins, et al were common things in the magical world! And they used owls to send mails. And they actually flew on broomsticks! The tale grew weirder every minute, but Harry assured him that what ever he was being told was the unvarnished truth, and after what he had seen the previous day, he could not help but believe him.

The fact that common man did not know about magic was because of a decree called 'Statute of Secrecy'. Wizards were not allowed to tell about their world to non magical humans (which were called muggles), unless the said people were their immediate relatives or guardians. If a muggle by chance came across any magical occurrence by accident, there were official people that altered the memories of these muggles to maintain the secrecy! And these official people worked under the Ministry Of Magic!!!

Harry told him all these details, because the next person they were going to hire was a werewolf. Mark was supposed to find a 'Remus Lupin' in the for-hire directory, and offer him a job. The job was to open a meat supply business geared towards meeting the needs of that bank run by the goblins, so that the pounds could be taken off their hands. Remus Lupin was to preferentially offer employment to his friends with a furry problem, before employing other people. After he had found the mailing address and written the letter to Remus, they had gone off to do shopping for Harry before their scheduled meeting with the old goldsmith.

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4 o' clock on the 21st of june found Remus outside a palatial three storied building in the suburbs of London. He was scheduled to meet one Mr. Rodriguez, he was told when he called up to confirm his meeting. Apprehensively, he rang the bell. This was the first time that he had been called for a job, usually, he was the one who went looking for it.

Remus could see a man dressed in a white starched uniform walk up to the gate.

"Hello, I am remus Lupin, I was supposed to meet Mr. Rodriguez."

"Yes sir, please come along," was the crisp reply.

So this was probably the butler or the assistant.

When he rounded the walkway, he saw a man in his mid sixties sitting in a comfortable reclining chair with a young boy about six years of age. The boy, however, looked nothing like the old man. He could not decide whether they were related or not.

The butler announced him to the man, who was engrossed in his magazine, while the boy was bent over a paper, scribbling away.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Lupin. Please, come and take a seat. I must say you are very prompt."

"Sir, I am looking for a job, I cannot afford to be tardy."

"True, true. I hope you did not have any difficulty finding the place?"

"No sir."

"I am sure you must be surprised to receive my letter, no?"

"To tell you the truth, yes sir, I was. I still am."

"Well then, let me explain. I am actually only an employee. I work for a wizard."

Remus was intrigued. He did not have much contact with wizards after the debacle of that Halloween night, and he could not, for heaven's sake, imagine a wizard looking specifically for him.

"For various reasons, the name of my employer will remain a secret. If you must know, he only is a well wisher, he probably knew you from school, and no, he is not Albus Dumbledore."

Remus just looked on expectantly.

"first of all, tell me about your friends from school. And by the way, I am just a muggle."

Remus was astonished. He was being hired by a wizard through a muggle!

"Please don't be surprised. Initially, my employer did not wish for you to know that I knew about the wizarding world, but some things changed and it was decided that it would be less complicated for all involved if you knew that you were being employed by a wizard."

Remus nodded his head in understanding. He then started telling about his friends, but was again interrupted.

"Ok, let us cut it short. You were close to three people in school, correct?"

"Yes sir"

"Out of them, two are dead, and one in prison, correct? And do forgive me for being blunt."

Remus nodded his head sadly.

"One of them had a son, Harry Potter, who was sent to live with his relatives, no?"

Remus's head shot up. "How do you…"

"Please Mr. Lupin, there is no reason to be alarmed. From your expression, it is clear that you did not expect me to know that. But the question is, do you know where he lives?"

Remus immediately went on his guard. "And how is that any of your concern, sir," he asked acidly.

"Because my employer finds it strange that inspite of being such close friends with one Mr. James Potter, you have not visited his son even once in the last six years," the man replied with an arched eyebrow.

Remus visibly deflated. "I can't. Only those magical beings, which have been personally sent by Albus Dumbledore, or have been invited by people living in the area, can visit Privet Drive. The rest are denied entry by the wards of the headmaster. Even owls can't reach him," he replied in a resigned voice.

"Then you will understand if my employer wishes that you not inform Albus that you have been invited to Privet drive. Of course, my employer won't stop you from meeting Harry."

"Yes, I can understand that, but how come my employer knows this? Very few people are privy to the information wher Harry lives, and I think I know all of them."

"I am sorry, Mr. Lupin, I can't comment on your question. Now, first would you like to hear the job offer, or would you like to go and meet Mr. Potter first."

"I think Harry can wait for a few more minutes when he has waited for six years, sir. Let us hear the job offer," Remus replied dryly.

"Let me begin by saying that my employer KNOWS about your condition, and does not care, in fact, that is one of the reasons you were chosen for the job."

Remus was startled. What kind of job requires a werewolf? He could not think of any!

"What I would like to know is, how many werewolves are there in England, and UK, and how many of them want a job?"

Remus sat up. "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Lupin, you will be given charge of a company which would like to hire werewolves, before extending jobs to other people. The catch is that they will have to settle in the muggle world, although you may be asked to interact with the wizarding world regularly"

"I don't understand," Remus said in a confused tone.

"My employer is fed up with the prejudices of the wizarding world, and he is going to be picking up a crusade. He has unlimited resources financially, but he needs people in right places to effect changes he wants. He believes that he can bring meaningful employment to the lycan community, and he thinks that only you have the ability to allow him to do so successfully. If you agree to work with him, he will arrange meetings between you and Harry Potter regularly, now that he knows what the problem is."

Remus was ecstatic. Fate was being merciful! He would be able to meet his cub and also help his brethren! It was too good to be true!

"Please tell me you are not joking", Remus pleaded.

And then he heard a name he had never expected to hear again.

"_Hello, Moony."_


	12. Remus Meets His Cub

"_Hello Moony"_

Remus swiveled his head in the direction of the voice. But what he saw left him utterly confused. The little boy sitting beside the old man had addressed him by his marauder name! How?

He looked intently at the boy. Wheatish hair, brown eyes, unblemished face, slightly elongated. He could not place the boy. How did the child know him?

The old man broke through his musings. "Meet my grandson, _Elander. However, _this is not how he actually looks. Two days back, he had a whim to play dress up, so he got his hair dyed, and got a set of contacts for himself. He also got a cosmetic box for himself. You see, normally his hair is jet black, he has green eyes, and he has a scar on his forehead," the man finished.

Remus was shocked. "Harry?" he asked lamely.

"Yes Moony, how are you?"

"What ..?How..?" Remus looked from Harry to MR. Rodriguez and back to Harry.

"A few days back was the first time that his aunt told him about magic. However, he remembered your name, and the other marauders, that's the term he uses for his father and his friends, from before. But you must understand that the Dursleys hate magic, and you will never visit Harry there."

"But what is Harry doing here with you?" Remus asked perplexed.

"Oh, nothing much. He is just here to help me around. His relatives don't like him very much, so they lent him to me to help me move around the house. I am old, you know," the old man said in an amused tone. "Now, I would leave you two alone for some time, then you and I will talk business," the man said, getting up from his chair, and moving towards the house.

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There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Remus watched Harry, who had an amused expression on his face. Remus fished around for conversation.

"How have you been, cub?"

"I have been good, Moony. But you don't look that good to me. How have you been?"

"I have been as good as possible, cub. But, you know, life is hard for a werewolf. We cannot keep down jobs in the muggle world, because of our monthly illness around the full moon, and wizards are just afraid of us and do not employ us," Remus said softly.

"Good for you then, that Mr. Rodriguez is employing you and your friends, no?"

"Did you really remember me cub, I mean, from before…?" Remus asked curiously.

"Yes Moony, I would sometimes dream that you or Uncle padfoot or Uncle Peter would come and take me away from the Dursleys. It was only a few days back that aunty told me what happened on that day, that Paddy was in jail, and Uncle Peter was dead. I was so sad to hear that."

Silence ensued for some moments. Remus did not know what to say to that.

"Moony, did Paddy really betray Da and Ma?" Harry asked in a very small voice.

Remus looked at the expectant face of his little cub. Oh, how he just wanted to collect the little boy in his arms and hide him from all the pain in the world. But he knew that he must tell the truth.

"Yes, kiddo"

"I don't believe it. Was there a trial?"

Remus thought about it and realized with a shock that Sirius had indeed not received a trial. He had just been thrown in Azkaban due to the overwhelming evidence pointing to his guilt, but the evidence had not been verified under veritaserum in the courts.

"Now that you asked, no Harry, Siri indeed did not receive a trial."

"Then how can you be sure that Paddy betrayed Da, he was like Da's brother, no?"

Remus thought back to those days wistfully. Indeed, Sirius and James were closer than any siblings he had known to be, closer than even twins. They knew everything about each other, they could predict what the other one was thinking, they could synchronize their acts from over several meters apart, and they were as thick as thieves. Now that he thought about it, he could not believe he had accepted that Sirius had betrayed James and Lily. He failed to realize the fact that Harry should neither know nor remember how close Sirius and James were.

"But that means that they changed secret keepers, and that Peter was the one who betrayed us," Remus murmured to himself, his chin buried in his chest.

Harry smiled. He knew that Remus never completely believed that Sirius was the one to betray James, but had had to accept it in the face of the evidences. Now that there was a possibility that Sirius was innocent, Remus would never believe in his guilt. He may not be able to get his friend freed, but he would certainly go to meet his friend in Azkaban, at the least. That was progress in Harry's books.

"Mr. Lupin, sorry to interrupt your bonding with Harry, but can we discuss your employment? As far as meeting with Harry is concerned, he is almost always here, and you have the phone number of the house as well, and there are no restrictions on your visiting Harry," the old man, who had returned during their conversation, said pleasantly.

Remus was happy. He could talk to his cub when ever he wanted, and he could visit him when ever he wanted. He was being offered a job, which took into consideration his curse, and he was being given a chance to help his brother and sister werewolves. What more could he ask from life?

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After some discussion with Mr. Rodriguez, they had thrashed out the details. Initially, meaning tomorrow, he would go to the Gringott's bank and tell them that he was a meat supplier based in the muggle world, and they could order any thing that they wanted. The only condition would be that the bank should pay him in pounds, since his company was based in the muggle world. Mr. Rodriguez was somehow confident that the goblins would be more than happy to pay in pounds.

He was then to procure their supply from funds supplied by Mr. Rodriguez. Remus would be keeping five percent of the profits. Meanwhile, he would contact all his friends who were interested in employment, no qualifications were required, they were needed as hands only, and all dealings with Mr. Rodriguez would have to be handled by Remus himself.

Mr. Rodriguez had generously offered to supply the funds for clothes for his friends, when Remus had explained their living conditions. Mr. Rodriguez had said to consider it as advance pay. Remus was also supposed to start making plans for their social development.

Remus had been provided with broad guidelines about what his employer expected him to achieve. First, Remus should hire, or better still, buy a building big enough to accommodate all his friends. The building was to be suitably furnished. Essentials should be there to begin with, and no rent would be charged for the first year. There would be only six hour work-shifts in the first year, and the remaining time would be devoted to their education in whatever subjects they wanted. His employer wanted all his werewolf employees to be at least O level certified within a maximum of three years. All education bills would be paid by their employer.

Next was the company itself. When Remus had informed Mr. Rodriguez that there were almost four hundred werewolves in the wild in UK, Mr. Rodriguez had been momentarily shocked. He had then left the matter in the hands of Remus. Remus was authorized to start any business that would gainfully employ his friends, and he was advised to look at those businesses which had a possibility of being used by wizards as well.

For Remus, this was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Without any guilt on his mind about not trying to meet his cub, he jumped into the planning and execution with full gusto. The first few days before the pack from Wiltshire arrived, Remus was extremely busy. A small amount of time was spent in completing his daily dealings with the goblins, and the rest of the time he devoted towards looking for accommodation. Initially, he was looking on his own without much success, but when Mr. Rodriguez referred him to Mrs. Laura Miguel, things started moving very fast.

When the property sales woman was informed that they were looking for a building to house about 500 employees, she became ecstatic. Mr. Rodriguez was making him rich! At this rate, she could soon retire! (Why is everyone so fond of retiring?). She advised Remus to rather rent a series of apartments momentarily, and commission a contractor to build them a series of buildings at his preferred location; this would be cheaper to his company in the long run. This gave Remus the perfect idea where to employ his friends!

Remus then approached Mr. Rodriguez with his idea, which was whole heartedly endorsed, but Mr. Rodriguez asked him to wait upon its execution for instructions from him.

After several weeks, Remus had been still working with only the pack from Wiltshire. This was a small pack with only 25 members, and their pack leader was a man by the name of Darren Slough. Remus had decided that each pack would maintain its identity, because it would be easier for him to deal with one person, who had sufficient control over the others. He had also decided that he would initially keep the pack separate, and their living accommodations would definitely be separate; they could socialize at their workplace, and school.

The Wiltshire pack had taken to their new life like fish to water. They had divided themselves into three groups of eight each. Each group had been given responsibility of loading two vans worth of meat in their work time, which was easy work. Besides that, Remus had, with permission, procured tutors for them, to guide them for their exams. Several of the werewolves, especially females, had never been taught the letters, and it was slow going in the beginning. But all of them were enthusiastic enough to work hard, and results begun to show. Remus was confident that at least nine of his friends would be ready to take their O level exams by the end of the year.

Remus would several times sit in on their instructions. Various times, he was amazed to hear about the things that the muggles had discovered, invented and taught to their young.

Apparently, for most of the things that an average wizard used magic, muggles had used their innovation and technology to match it. Kettles that heated water without fire, screens that showed moving pictures, and with sound (!), firearms that fired at an incredibly fast rate, planes that moved at and beyond the speed of sound, rockets that took humans to space and the moon (!); muggles had done it all. Sometimes, Remus wondered if muggles would surpass magic or not…

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Things were moving at a faster rate than Harry had anticipated. In two days time, he had set up a front to safely dispose of the gold that he conned from the goblins, thus enabling him to create his revolution chest at an amazing pace; he had dipped his fingers in the London Stock Exchange to further increase his holdings; Remus was on board and out of the wilderness; Sirius would hopefully be getting one regular visitor before Harry managed to get him released; and Harry had made sure that the goblins would not get saddled with the muggle currency and therefore initiate an inquiry, thus exposing him. Moreover, his first step in the revolution was already taken!!!

Over the next few days during his conversations with Remus, Harry discovered a startling fact. Apparently, only a small percentage of muggle children with magic attended Hogwarts! It so happened that a large number of muggle parents did not send their children to the magical school, because it was too different, or it was too far off, or they did not want their children to disappear in a society which was not open to them, or they just refused to believe that magic was real! Harry then realized what would be his next step in the revolution.

Harry would start a school for muggleborn magicians only, specifically those wizards and witches, who for whatever reason did not attend Hogwarts. It would be a regular muggle school, with additional courses in magic to be taught to the children. Admission would only be by invitation, just like Hogwarts, but limited to muggleborns. His biggest challenge would be to keep the school secret. Or may be, he would not need to keep the school secret, if he played his cards right!

With a new goal to achieve, Harry set to work. He would need a place to build his new school. Harry planned to employ those muggleborn wizards and witches, who would have slipped in the muggle world and living here already. Hopefully, they would be happy to reconnect with their magic, without the prejudices of those bigoted purebloods and the demented Ministry of magic. For this purpose, he roped in Remus again, simply because he was the only wizard to whom he had access currently. Of course, it was done through Mark.

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Mrs. Laura Miguel was one happy woman. A week back, an old man had come out of the blue and had bought one of the costlier properties she had on display. She had then been directed to find accommodation for up to five hundred people, and now she had again been called by same old man. If the trend continued, she might get another big deal.

"Hello, Mrs. Miguel."

Laura looked up from the magazine that she had found on the table in the living room, where she had been directed by the butler of the house. She saw the old man walking in the room with his ever present grandson with him. She wondered if it was the boy who did all the buying, and the old man only approved.

"Hello, sir. How may I be of service to you today?" Laura preferred to get straight to business.

"Indeed, straight to the point, no? No matter, it suits me. Tell me madam, if I ask you to procure a large amount of land for me, how far would I have to go from London?"

"It will depend, sir, on the amount of land you want to buy. Anything up to twenty acres should be within ten to fifteen minutes."

"Well, that hardly meets my demand. Tell me, madam, how much land is required for rehabilitating about thousand families?"

"You want to set up a town?"

"Um, is that what it looks like? Well, may be."

'What was this man up to? Anyways, why should she be concerned? It's his money; let him spend it however he wants. And the more he spends through me, the more commission I get.' Laura mused happily.

"Sir, you might be looking for three to four hundred acres of land. Actually, if you just want to build houses for that many families, it would be much less, but I am guessing that you would also be considering to set up various facilities, which need to support such a population socially," Laura commented.

"You would be right in that. So, tell me, how close to London can I get, say, five hundred acres of land."

Laura swooned. She was definitely going to retire after this deal. At the very least, she was going to take a year long vacation and travel around the world.

"I will have to check that sir. If you could get me near a phone, and give me five minutes, I think I can answer your question."

"Very well," quipped the old man. He bent towards the wall, and pressed a very well concealed switch. A few seconds later, the butler came striding in the room.

"Hopkins, can you please show Mrs. Miguel to the phone? She needs to make an important call."

"Of course sir," the butler replied looking at Laura, waiting for her to follow.

After only seven minutes on the phone, Laura found the perfect thing for Mr. Rodriguez. Apparently, a young doctor had recently put his father's fields for sale. The fields covered an area of five hundred and thirty seven acres. The old farmer had passed away few weeks back, and the young doctor was very gainfully employed by the NHS, was currently posted in Edinburgh, and had no plans to return to his father's fields. The best part was the fact that the said fields were only a forty-five minute drive from King's Cross railway station, hopefully close enough for the man to approve.

The old man insisted on seeing the lay of the land, before saying either way!

Well, that was understandable. Money does not grow on trees. Such a deal was sure to put a sizeable dent in any individual's pocket. But this was a man who carried about four hundred thousand pounds in his pocket (It was still a mystery to Laura as to in which pocket could the man carry such a huge amount!). So, may be, it was just to really see the lay of the land…

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Harry looked around the empty fields. The whole property had a single building about two and half storey tall (the half storey was a very prominent attic), which actually looked like just a speck of dirt from the distance. The land was very well fenced-off, and the property was very approachable from the highway.He could see the woods in the distance.Perhaps he could buy them as well! There was no village at less than ten minutes drive, which suited Harry fine. This would be the ideal place for what he had planned.

_Work on Voldemort would begin after Harry's birthday, in the mean time, he will consolidate base and set things rolling. Hagrid is also due to get a significant role, so if there are any Hagrid fans out there, cheers! Lastly, I am not sure at this moment in time whether Harry will end up at Hogwarts' or not, and whether Voldemort will get a body. Ideas are welcome. However, whatever happens, Harry will surely meet the basilisk, whose name incidentally, is AMBROSE!!!_

_On another note, one of the upcoming chapters is "Remus meets Sirius in Azkaban". If anybody is interested in writing that chapter, go ahead and mail it to me. If it is good enough, I will print it with due credits._


	13. Analysis

As June rolled into July, Harry found himself working hard to juggle the various activities he was simultaneously engaged in.

The first thing that Harry had done after claiming the top floor of 'the nest' was to create a potions' lab in one of the larger rooms of the floor. He had chosen a very sunny room, which was also well ventilated, just like he had seen in his school's chemistry lab, where he had accidentally landed once, trying to escape from Dudley and his gang. He had hated the damp, dark setting of the Hogwarts' potions lab and had often wondered why they did not have a better class for it. During his two years of exile in the muggle world, he had guessed that it was probably because of tradition; potions' work had always been done in the dungeons and wizards were too lazy to change even their mindsets!

It was in this room that Harry spent most of his waking hours. The reason was simple. He, Harry, could not move about in the body that he presently occupied. So, simply put, he needed a new body (bodies?) to do so. The easiest way to do so that came to his mind was '_polyjuice'._ Moreover, it was extremely safe. Polyjuice did not contain any poisonous ingredients and it could be consumed indefinitely without any ill effects on the consumer.

Also, he wanted to run free from Dumbledore's machinations, for he realized that it was exactly that. A _master leglimens_ never realizing that he had an infested DADA teacher, never realizing that a student was being possessed, that a DADA teacher was an imposter (!) simply begged for attention as the proof. Had Albus simply meant them to be learning experiences for him? Sadly, he would never get the answers to this extremely vital question. Perhaps, leaving him with the Dursley's was also a part of the same crap…Never mind, he had a master plan to escape from his clutches.

So, Harry had started brewing as many batches of polyjuice potion as he could. And he was using industrial size cauldrons for them! While a normal researcher's or student's cauldron would hold about five to six normal doses of any potion, an industrial size cauldron was actually the size of a normal huge household cauldron from the fourteenth century, able to hold up to 200 doses of a normal potion. To top it all, the results obtained could be sustained over several batches because the large amounts of the ingredients used allowed the proportions of the gradients to be more constant than when smaller quantities were used. The only reason researchers did not use them was the cost of ingredients, they were really astronomical!!!

Harry had also decided to restart his physical fitness program. Although he was fairly confident that he would be able to dispose of Voldemort before he became a problem again, he reckoned it did not hurt to be prepared. Apparently, it was good if you had a skill but never needed it, but it absolutely sucked when you needed a skill and did not have it.

So, every morning found Harry spending half an hour around the property jogging, after which he spent another ninety minutes in one of the rooms which had been set as a dojo cum gym. Here, he started going through the training again that he had undergone in his two years of exile. Although Harry knew he would not be using the various equipments for some time till his body filled up and he was actually a bit older, he would sometime do small weights just to add strength to his arms and the legs.

Every day after breakfast, Harry had taken to brainstorming for various possible ways in which he could procure the horcruxes. He planned and planned and created scenarios and rejected scenarios and recreated scenarios, such that he was pretty sure he had a foolproof plan by the time the month changed. The only problem that he faced, was not knowing the whereabouts of Nagini.

Although Nagini had been made a horcrux after Voldemort had been found by wormtail, Harry still wanted to find her and destroy her. Maybe it would be just for his personal satisfaction, but he just could not ignore her existence and the very small possibility that Albus might have been wrong, and that she already was a horcrux.

Another thing that Harry had been itching to find out was the state of his magic. Since he did not have a wand, he had no means of testing whether it was only his essence that had traveled back in time with him, or his magic as well. Aberforth had talked about the integration of his consciousness with his immature core, and the fact that a mature wizard would not be able to manage it. This strongly implied that the magic of the wizard traveled back with him. Also, he would feel extremely vulnerable to be out in the wizarding world without a wand; his one of the top most priorities after completing the first set of polyjuice was, there fore, to get a wand for himself, and definitely not from _Ollivander's!_

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Unknown to Harry, several important changes had taken place in his core, and indeed, his whole being, because of his 'exile of rama' ritual. His core had actually traveled back with him, but interestingly, was now placed side by side to his new core. As such, he had now two cores, and both would continue to grow till the age of his body reached seventeen. This meant that his old core would have almost double the time to grow than normal wizards. Since his old core already matched Voldemort and Dumledore in power, when he would become seventeen in this time, he would actually be equal to three of them in power! That also meant that he was already more powerful than either of them!

Another thing that happened was more bizarre. When the _time-space fabric_ started getting unraveled by all the accumulated magic of Harry's core, a lot of wild magic was released from this destruction, which helped to spread the mayhem of the destruction. However, since it was not actually a part of Harry's magic, it sought to destroy Harry himself as he was being dragged back in time. Harry's abundantly present magic fought against this wild magic, but simply could not overcome it. In order to safeguard its own source, the magic did the next best thing that it could do; it formed a protective cocoon around Harry's core and essence to save it from the wild magic, while not disrupting the destructive action of the wild magic on other things in its path. The wild magic just slipped over this cocoon whenever it came upon Harry.

Although it was primarily intended to simply save his magic and essence from the destructive wild magic, the protection did not disappear when Harry reached his new body. As a result, Harry now had a cocoon protecting his magical cores and souls from destruction. The killing curse, which worked by separating the soul from the magic of the body, would just slip over him, if it was ever directed on him (again)! He now had true immunity from the killing curse, although Harry did not know it! All magics which worked similarly by working on the soul or the magical cores, were now ineffective against him. This included a vast deal of dark cruses, which would require small amount of power from the caster, latch on to the core of the one who was attacked, and leech on its power to bring out the vicious effects that they generally caused.

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Harry realized that he had made a hasty decision when he bought that land near London. It was a spur-of-the-moment act and definitely not well thought out. This had become abundantly clear when Mr. Edwards had come to give Mark a report at the end of the month. He had then realized that he would not have enough time as well as funds to carry out his plan immediately; moreover, his plan was extremely vague, and it needed to see paper and pen, before it became realistic and executable.

"Mr. Andrews, I hope business is doing fine," Mark had asked the similarly aged goldsmith, when he had called him to 'the nest' on 30th to give a progress report on what all he had accomplished in the several days that he had had at his disposal till then.

"Yes, very well, Mr. Rodriguez," Andrews had replied, while eyeing Harry. He must have thought it queer that his employer always had his grandson present, although he was just a child. Well, Harry definitely did not mind his wondering; it was more important for him to get these reports first hand, thank you very much.

"Could you then kindly delight me with the news of all that you have been doing with all the gold and money that is at your disposal?" Mark had prodded the old man.

"Well, sir, we have managed to sell more than half of the supplies that you have provided. A large amount was spent on procuring equipment and the state of the art security features installment. However, I would like to give an advice, sir," the man had finished softly.

"Mr. Andrews, you are forgetting that I told you that you would be running this business how you want to. I only want you to inform me before you take any major decisions, so that I may veto any decisions that I particular do not like. You do not need to advise me, rather, you should tell me what you intend to do, and whether it is fine by me or not. That is all I ask," Mark finished sincerely. Harry had told Mark in very clear terms that while Andrews may be given a free rein, it was to be made clear that all major decisions had to be approved.

Mr. Andrews had sighed in relief. "Well sir, you see, I am trying to get out of my mindset of being an employee, rather than a decision maker, but old habits are hard to kill. Thank you for the vote of confidence, sir. On to the matter then, sir. I think it would bring down the value of our stock asset, namely gold, if we are to continue selling it at the same rate. If we are to obtain maximum profit from our stocks, it would be ideal to float our stock gradually in the market."

"Yes, about that. Have you planned on forays outside England, and indeed, even outside Europe? I have heard that Americans and Indians particularly, love gold."

"I had considered that when you had mentioned the possibilities of export, but I was first trying to consolidate the domestic market before we ventured out."

"Not to worry about that. I also think I need to correct an oversight. Tell me Mr. Andrews, do you know how much we are paying for the gold coins?"

The decision of what to tell the goldsmith about the cost of the galleons had been a tricky one. In the end, Harry had decided that he wanted at least 45 pounds to go to his kitty for every galleon sold. Adding to it the seven pound cost that the goblins would charge at a rate of 40 percent exchange rate, which was the maximum that they charged, they had arrived at a figure of at least 52 pounds as procuring cost per galleon for the sake of the goldsmith's balance books. However, they would adjust it upwards if he was selling it for more than 55 pounds, which was what they got when they sold the coins on their own.

"Well, no. A bit silly of me, I realize, but I have been selling them at the market price till now."

"And pray tell, what is the market price?"

"60 pounds, a few pence either side, depending on the day."

"Goodness! Wouldn't you be happy when I tell you that you can kill all competition? We are acquiring the coins for close to 56 pounds only, so you have extreme leeway in setting the price. You could offer a cost of as much as 2 percent less than the market price without affecting our margins, you know."

The man's eyes had widened in surprise and anticipation. But then he had calmed himself with apparent supreme effort, and said," I still think that we should sell slowly, at least not more than three hundred thousand coins a month, if we are selling only in UK."

"And what if we are selling world wide? Money is not a constraint if you want to expand operations. I want as huge volumes of trade as possible."

Mr. Andrews had swooned with glee. He looked like a kid that had just been told that Christmas would now be a daily affair, and he would receive the same number of gifts on every Christmas!

"I can then happily tell you that by next month this time, we would be able to manage a trade of close to 200 million pounds, translating in the selling of about a little more than three million of your cute little coins"

Harry had then done some math in his head and realized that he would be able to glean only about a hundred and fifty million pounds per month. All his grand ideas based on quickly acquiring billions of pounds came crashing around his ears. Moreover, he really did not have much idea how wealthy the rich of the wizarding world were, and how powerful was the galleon, since he had never done any shopping besides his school supplies. Those had cost him merely a few coins. His costliest purchase to date was the wand at seven galleons. The firebolt, which was supposed to cost a fortune, had merely been priced at five hundred and ninety nine galleons, he had discovered, while reading the Quidditch Weekly. Even Malfoy, who continuously boasted of his huge wealth, had not bought one during his four years after he got the firebolt!

It was then that Harry had decided to increase his dealings in the LSE from weekly to daily transactions. After the goldsmith had left, he had arranged for five more brokers to be hired separately, each one oblivious to the other's engagements, one for each day. He had also decided to just sit tight on all his accumulating wealth for quite some time, may be a few years, before he worked on his grand plans.

Having decided to stop working on any new project, Harry was now ready to shift his concentration on his primary objective, Voldemort, and freedom of Sirius.

Well then. New month, new beginnings!!!


	14. Oversights

"_You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch, who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was…He didn't like magic, my father…"_

"_He left her and returned to his muggle parents before I was even born. Potter, she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… Tom Riddle…"_

_Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave._

"_Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly," why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look, Harry! My true family returns…"_

Harry woke up with a start, perspiration beaded on his forehead, breathing heavily.

"Stupid, stupid. Really, how could I forget?"

Voldemort was but one man. It was really his followers and the people with similar mindset, the ones who took joy in muggle baiting, and torturing, that were the crux of the problem. They would have to go too.

The struggle within a single century due to two dark Lords was nothing new in the history of wizarding world. What was new was the fact that there was a warrior of light equal in power, if not more, to unite and lead the struggle against the said Dark Lords. The ensuing pitched battles, with no side emerging victorious, had all but wiped out most of the old wizarding families. Even families like the Weasleys, which were famous for their large broods, had just one family left with the weasley name, their numbers recovering only in the last few years.

All families of repute, and old name and traditions, were hanging by their last threads of existence. The Potters, the Malfoys, the Longbottoms, the Parkinsons, the Bones, the Notts, the Diggorys, the Goyles, the Woods, the Crabbes, the Bells, the Greengrasses, the Johnsons, the Zabinis, all had just one single member in the current generations. Still many of them didn't have even the single members like these; the Dumbledores, the Lestranges, the McGonagalls, the Blacks, the Prewetts, the Crouchs, the Marchbanks, the Carrows and many more had no heirs to show. If there ever was any time to integrate the muggleborns into the wizarding worlds without any opposition from the blood purists, it was probably now.

All the supporters of Voldemort would have to go. In time, when Harry would be able to claim his position and seats in the Wizengamot, and exert his influence due to the various seats that his family had accumulated over the centuries, he would be able to push his agenda. Better still, he would not meet much opposition, if it was he who had the Minister's ear by default, there being no Malfoys and Umbridges.

The composition of the wizengamot, Harry had discovered, was more like a council of the prominent families, where money spoke the most powerful of all.

First of all was the manner in which seats were initially allotted, then retained, and finally, redistributed.

During its conception, 123 families of the wizarding Britain had congregated and decided to promulgate laws after several decades of strife and lawlessness which killed many. The wizengamot was supposed to be the supreme council in all matters, and its decision was to be final and binding. Over the years, they had created the seat of the minister, who was supposed to carry out the day-to-day activities of maintaining law and order and apprehending violators of the said laws. He was also allowed to introduce bills, besides the members themselves, which had to be defeated by a majority vote to prevent them from becoming laws. The idea was that if enough people were not opposed to it, the bill must be good for the people

The minister, in turn, was selected by the wizengamot. The families, which had become the part of the first wizengamot, were actually feudal lords. All of them had titles and lands, and they had subjects and tenants. As such, they generally selected ministers which promoted their own interest, and increased the businesses of their tenants by introducing favorable laws. Quite frequently, a rich Lord would pay some financially troubled Lords to help him get a minister of his choice voted in office. Agenda based selling of votes was pretty common.

The way the seats were retained was unique.

All families, which had a seat on the council, made a one time payment at the beginning of every century. The amount to be paid was equal to hundred months worth of current salary of the minister's post. The amounts were automatically deducted from the family vaults, if the said amount was less than 5 percent of the galleons present in the family vaults.

A notification was sent to the family head, if the stipulated amount could not be automatically deducted from the vaults. The family had the time period of one year in which to make the said payments.

If unable to do so, the family could sell the wizengamot seat within the same period to any other family which did not already have a seat on the wizengamot. The price for such a trade was agreed upon by the two parties in question, and the new family was supposed to pay the one time fees within the stipulated one year time frame, with written proof of approval from the said family.

If the family which previously held the wizengamot seat failed to make claim to the said seat within the said period, the seat was then offered to the richest family from among those who did not already have a seat on the wizengamot.

A lesser branch of an existing family could lay claim to the seats thus made available by adopting a new name, and opening a new family vault in the Gringotts, and acquiring at least 50 acres of land as the property of the family, and registered as unsaleable, due to being hereditary family property.

A first born wizard or witch could also lay a claim to such a seat, if he or she met the criteria of being the richest one from among the families which did not already have a seat on the council. However, they must have a land property of at least 100 acres, also made unsaleable by being registered as family property of the newly registered wizarding family.

If a family vault had enough money to make the payment, but no head of the family, a representative was appointed by another head of family, who happened to be the closest blood relative of the last existing member of the family.

If a family did not have enough money to make the payment, and no head of the family, the seat was simply put up to be offered to the richest family who was not already on the council. Associated families, which had the power to appoint a representative for that family, generally overcame the problem by simply depositing the requisite amount of money to allow automatic payment of the fees, if they could afford it. Several old families were thus in control of almost 4 to 6 council seats via standing instructions to maintain the said accounts.

Harry had since then discovered during his two years of study of wizarding law that no new families had joined the council in the last two hundred years simply because no new families, viz the muggleborns wizards and witches, had been able to afford the said payment. Jobs in the wizarding world simply did not pay enough to accumulate that kind of gold. Starting a business in the wizarding world, although extremely profitable, was still very difficult, simply because of the daunting starting costs, and the already entrenched players in almost all sectors. Some businesses, like wand making, were lost arts because these skills were simply passed on from father to the heir, and the result was three wand makers in the whole of Europe. Same happened to businesses like trunk making, and armor making.

The seats thus left unoccupied were to be filled in by the minister for tenure of ten years, after which the appointed member was given the option of meeting the criteria of holding the seat, and thus claim the said seats. The ministers, over the years, had carefully appointed yes men on these seats, who did not have any significant financial muscle. The total number of such seats in the present council was 35, thus making the minister very powerful, enabling him to pass any law, with the support of merely 28 independent members which were not his yes men.

Needless to say, it was not a difficult job for a minister to garner such support. Only problem for a minister was that these appointed members were not allowed to participate in the voting for a new minister. The voting quorum was formed simply of the members who had paid for their seats, and a majority vote of 67 percent of the quorum was essential for the appointment. Since the remaining seats were almost evenly split between liberals and conservatives, it was never a good idea for a minister to antagonize any faction if he wanted to get re-elected. Additionally, a no confidence vote could be brought by 51 percent of the voting quorum, and 75 percent of votes were required to impeach the minister.

Harry's long term goal was to give the muggle born wizards enough financial power to buy these wizengamot seats, and thus make some rules which would further the cause of muggleborns and other sentient creatures, who were ignored and ostracized by the old families. He also intended to make the Hogwarts system of education redundant, by opening a school which would have the best of both the muggle and the wizarding educations. The fact that the wizards lived to almost double the ages of muggles, meant that they could easily devote a few more years than muggles towards their education. As it stood, they were spending less time than the muggles, what with no wizarding colleges and universities. This was one of the most probable causes of the stagnation of the wizarding society.

If Harry's plans were to succeed, he would need to remove the disruptive elements of the old Dark families. From his time in the graveyard, and his time in the headmaster's pensieve, Harry knew the identity of all the death eaters, and although they escaped prison, he knew that they really belonged there.

During his two years in exile, Harry had realized that Albus was being unnecessarily idealistic. His idea of 'second chance' was useless when faced with remorseless killers, who tortured for fun, raped with no guilt and murdered with abandon. Whether the victim was a child or an adult made no difference to them. How could Albus expect them to change their ways? The judiciary was so corrupt and nepotistic, that they escaped with the flimsiest of excuses.

Harry was not Albus. Harry had hardened gradually, first with the murder of Cedric in front of his own eyes, then the passing of Sirius through the veil, and finally, with the loss of the headmaster's life. He would bring justice and he would not give them a 'second chance'.

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_7__th__ July, 1987, Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch, London_

An old man entered the bank with his very young grandson. He headed to one of the counters, and stood in line. There were only two people in front of him. His turn came soon enough.

"Could you tell me where I should go for information on expedition, exploration and excavation parties?"

Snarkhook looked up from his counter. The bank had not had a client who wanted an expedition, exploration and excavation party in almost five decades. There were various reasons. Generally, these expeditions were wild goose chases, which were not profitable, and were done merely for interest. Due to Grindelwald, and then Voldemort, the wizards in Britain and Europe had hardly the time or inclination to pursue such interests.

Secondly, the cost of hiring such a team was extremely high. Because profitable venues had already been claimed by the goblins and placed under the Fidelius, there weren't many places that the wizards could go to excavate and turn up something of value His interest was thus piqued. Seeing that there were no customers behind the old man, he decided to accompany him to the office of research and expeditions himself.

"Seeing that you are my last customer, I will lead you to the office myself. Please follow me," Snarkhook said as he climbed down from his counter to lead the man and his grandson probably, to the aforementioned office.

The two humans followed the goblin through a maze of corridors. When the goblin pushed a huge set of doors at long last, and went inside, the two humans made to follow, but were stopped by the guards on the door.

"Wait here," one of the goblin guards said gruffly. "You will go inside only when you are called in."

The other goblin guard noticed with interest that while the old man simply acquiesced with a neutral expression on his face, the little human had a distasteful frown on his face. Suppressing a wry smile, he just focused his security visor on the little human out of curiosity.

Immediately, he had to look away. He had been in the presence of numerous wizards over the last 19 years, but had never been overwhelmed by the core radiation of any of them. It was the responsibility of the guards to assess the power levels of the wizards before ushering them in the presence of any of the Elder goblins. He had served on the security detail when the Dark Lord Voldemort had come calling, and he had been on the security detail on numerous occasions when the old goat of a headmaster of the Wizarding School had visited. Neither of them radiated so much power, and this human was probably only seven years old, not having started the use of a wand even. The Elder must know!

Grimtoe quietly slipped into the door after telling Hammerfoot to keep an eye on the small human.

Entering, he bowed to the elder Rimclaw, who was conversing with Snarkhook.

"What is it Grimtoe, that you had to come to tell me?" the elder goblin asked as he looked at him.

"Elder, it is about the two humans standing outside your door, who came with master Snarkhook. In fact, it is about the smaller human."

"Go ahead, Grimtoe, we don't have all day."

"Elder, his core radiation…"

"What about his core radiation? He is just a child, for Rimrod's sake. I have entertained both Dumbledore and Voldemort in the past, Grimtoe, and you were there on those occasions."

"I know, elder, and that is why I felt that you must know," Grimtoe said, looking at the floor.

"What must I know Grimtoe? Hurry up, don't test my patience," Rimclaw snarled.

"Well, elder, when Hammerfoot told them to wait outside, the older human just agreed, but the little human became irritated. Out of curiosity, I just focused my security visor on him, and I had to immediately look away. Never have I seen so much radiation from a single core, elder." Grimtoe stood quietly after finishing his report.

"You mean to tell me that this human child of probably seven years, who has never likely held a wand even, has a core more powerful than even Voldemort and Dumbledore, and he is coming into a meeting with elder, and he is already irritated because you stopped him outside the door?" Snarkhook asked curiously.

"Yes master Snarkhook, that is an accurate summary," Grimtoe said softly.

"What are you waiting for, Snarkhook? Usher him in, and arrange the best of refreshments for the two humans. If the little human is as powerful as you say, we should be careful to not antagonize him. He will certainly be an important player some day. It is better to be on his good side." Rimclaw ordered Grimtoe.

As Grimtoe rushed outside to fetch the two humans, Rimclaw looked at Snarkhook. "The closet on the far right side of the wall near the mer's statue has a power meter, Snarkhook. Get it, and set it on the table. Be quick."

Snarkhook hurriedly did as he was told. By the time he finished setting up the device and took his place behind the elder goblin, the two human were striding inside. However, when the small human saw the device on the table, he stopped in his tracks. The older human looked at him and asked,

"What happened, Elander? Is everything all right?"

"I think, grandfather, that you would not be able to serve your purpose here any longer. I suggest that you get the items on that list that I made yesterday night which you have in your pocket. I will deal with them on my own," the little boy said to the older human, apparently his grandfather.

Rimclaw first frowned when his meter told him that the older human had no magic in him. He was a muggle, for Rimrod's sake! Then his eyes widened when the meter start pushing against the top of the indicator, beyond 1100. The meter had been calibrated with Dumbledore's power after the defeat of Grindelwald, at 1000. Even Voldemort, after all his rituals, had merely touched 997!

When he felt Snarkhook nudging him, he looked up to see that the older human was walking out of the door, while the little one was standing in the middle of the room, as if he had stopped walking while coming in, due to some unknown reason.

The small boy looked at the two goblins with narrowed eyes. Snarkhook became apprehensive and started to fidget. Rimclaw looked at him curiously, waiting for him to say something

"Is this how you treat all your customers, goblin elder? By breaking treaties, invading privacies, and using restricted devices without permission? By being rude, and by being uncivil, by making us stand while you yourself lounge on your padded seats?" The little boy said acidly.

Rimclaw paled as the human, Elander, continued his diatribe. How did he know he was a goblin elder? Did he recognize the power meter for what it was? How did he know that it was a restricted device? And how did he know that that it was against the treaties signed between the two governments to use it without permission? He paled further when he heard the accusations of being rude and uncivil…

"I beg your forgiveness, Master Elander, but…" his reply died in his throat when he was rudely cut off by a near shout from the little human.

"Goblin elder, I did not give you permission to use my first name. You go on breaking protocol after protocol, and you sneer on us and call us uncivilized? How interesting!"

Rimclaw shut his mouth. He did not know what to do. Never had he been in such an embarrassing situation. He, a goblin elder of 200 years of age, was getting a dressing down from a seven year old human on etiquettes and protocol, and he could not protest! Simply because the human was right! Since none of the humans generally knew the rules and the ways of engagement, and also because the humans never approached the goblins until and unless the services of goblins were desperately needed, these trespasses had been ignored for several decades now. However, it did not excuse his behavior. As an elder goblin, it was his duty to set an example, not create strife with other races. He watched the human as the human glared at him and Snarkhook.

"Sir, I again ask for forgiveness for my slights and oversights. Please forgive me. I sincerely request you to take a seat, and allow me to make amends," Rimclaw pleaded. If this human launched a full fledged complaint with all the descriptions that he had mentioned, the wizarding government of Britain would swoop down on them for breaking the treaties, and confiscate the bank. They had always been looking for excuses!

Elander visibly restrained his anger, and marched towards the seat in front of the table. Seeing that the size of the table was not suited for his client, he immediately signaled to Snarkhook, who created two easy chairs, a couch, and a coffee table on one side of the room.

"Honored sir, please come and sit here, where it may be more convenient, if I may be so bold to say so," Snarkhook said in as soft a voice as he could. His voice was strained from the effort that he was making to prevent it from trembling.

Elander stopped walking towards the main table and looked at Snarkhook, and then he looked at the coffee table and the couch. He changed his track as he walked towards the newly appeared sitting arrangements.

_A/N: I know that the pace of story, some will say, has slowed down. Actually, initially, i had decide that the story would be completed in about 50-60 thousand words, but i am writing more leisurely now. I may change my mind again, depending on the time available to me. I have recieved no expressions of interest for the two chapter titles that i had put up for grabs, so i will assume there are no takers. Any advice is welcome. I am not e review fanatic, but they are welcome and definitely a moral booster. Lastly, I do not have a beta, so if anyone is interested, do let me know._


	15. negotiations

_A/N: No offer for beta still. Seems my story is too boring for any one to bother to proof read…Nevertheless, I will plough on. Thanks for reading the story. Do let me know what you think of the story so far, dear readers…_

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When Harry and Mark were made to stop at a door guarded by two goblins, Harry realized they were going to see an elder. From what he remembered from the law books on the section on goblins, how to deal with them, associated treaties, and fines for breaking those treaties, he became very irritated by the fact that none of these were ever taught at Hogwarts. Since no wizard or witch ever had the time or inclination to pursue these treatises, except for those who later took up law as a profession, they hardly knew how to deal with the goblins. He also realized with a grin that the goblins regularly overlooked and broke these simple treaty stipulations of interactions, but since the humans were hardly aware of the transgressions, no one ever complained. This meeting might as well turn interesting.

One of the guards, who had gone in not much later after they had arrived, returned in a hurry, and immediately showed them in. Harry wondered what the matter could be. When he stepped inside the large cavernous room with rather a low ceiling, and looked up at the table at the end of the room, he realized that Mark would be of no further use to him in this meeting; he may as well send him to complete other errands.

Sitting on the goblin's table was a power meter. It showed the relative powers of the wizards and witches. Different goblin elders calibrated their meters by different wizards. It was even rumored that one of the power meters in the possession of the head of the bank was calibrated against Merlin himself. However, now that power meter was active, the goblins would know that Mark was a muggle, and goblins did not offer their services to a muggle!

However, the goblin had made a mistake. These power meters had been listed as restricted items, to be used only in cases when deciding whether the inheriting heir of a family was a wizard or not, if he was receiving the family title. Furthermore, they could not be used without the permission of the humans on which they were to be used; this had been made clear during one of the earliest treaties signed between the two races, as far back as in 1207 AD. He had the goblin by the neck, and he would not lose this opportunity!

Earlier, Harry had been fretting how to lay his hands on the horcrux in Bellatrix's vault. That could not be obtained without the co-operation of either Bella, or the goblins. Getting Lestrange to co-operate was simply out of question. Harry had been planning to offer quite a large amount of gold for the opportunity to destroy the horcrux in that vault to the goblins, but he doubted that they would agree. Now that he had one of the goblin elders in his clutches, and knowing that he could give the MoM enough reason to confiscate the entire bank's possession, he was sure the goblin would do him a small favor…

After Harry had ranted on the two goblins and showed them who really was in charge there, he felt extremely pleased with himself. He was pretty sure of a favorable outcome from this meeting.

He sat on the couch, and spread on it leisurely, clearly indicating that the two goblins were to take the chairs, and looked at them to start. At that moment, one of the goblin guards who was stationed outside, entered with a plate of refreshments and a nicely dressed tea set. Harry looked on, amused.

Master Snarkhook, as the guard had addressed him, straightened a cup to pour into it, and looked up to Harry, question in his eyes. Harry realized that he wanted to know how Harry would like his tea, and since he did not know his name, he was at a loss as to how to address the small human sitting in front of him. Harry took pity on him.

"That would not be necessary, master goblin. I know how precious you hold your time, and I for one, would not like to occupy more of it than absolutely necessary."

Both the goblins looked at him with gaping mouths. Harry had to work very hard to suppress a giggle.

The two goblins recovered very quickly. The elder goblin started to speak.

"Young sir, let me begin by saying that I am extremely embarrassed by my mistakes on this day, and I am completely at your mercy, if you would like to press any charges. Before we continue with any more business, let me introduce ourselves. I am Rimclaw, a goblin elder. How you already knew that is beyond me. My associate on this day is master Snarkhook, goblin master. How may we be of service, sir?"

"Elder Rimclaw, I am Elander Rodriguez. I understand that it is part of the treaties that our two governments signed that a goblin elder's room be guarded by two goblin guards, so that any human entering your chambers may know that he or she was in the presence of one of your council members, is it not? That alerted me to the fact that you indeed were a goblin elder."

Rimclaw was beyond surprised. It was indeed the part of the first treaty ever signed between the two races. However that treaty was so old, that almost nobody ever consulted it, at least the humans. The goblins ensured that they stuck to rules as far as possible or necessary, simply because the humans hugely outnumbered them.

"Indeed, that is as it is. May I enquire what brings you to us on this fine day?"

"As my grandfather already mentioned to master Snarkhook outside, we were looking for expedition, exploration and excavation parties."

"I am sure you mean a party, not parties, master Rodriguez?"

"Tell me, elder Rimclaw, how many _inferi_ can one of your expedition, exploration and excavation parties handle?"

Rimclaw paled. _Inferi!_ But they had not been seen since Voldemort disappeared six years ago. They were extremely hard to destroy. They could be kept at bay by fire, but if they were guarding any excavation site, they would not leave the place, and destroying them would take all the concentration of at least one goblin per inferi. Since one party of excavators had only 8 goblins, he was forced to reply with a pitiful number of 8. But before he could even give his answer, he was given additional information.

"And let me add that they will be resistant to fire by virtue of being placed in water for many many years."

"Umm…In that case, I think my answer would be 5 to 6 inferi."

"Ahh, my request then stands. We are looking for expedition, exploration and excavation parties."

"If we are specifically speaking of inferi as the major threat to your expedition, may I suggest a personalized party, and not the standard parties?"

"Well, I guess I should let you know what I am expecting. The place has an entry ward. After you will break down the ward, you will come across a lake, at the centre of which is an island. This island has the treasure that I seek. However, the lake has a horde of inferi, probably several hundreds strong, which I need to be destroyed. These are the twin objectives of the trip."

"Master Rodriguez, if what you are saying is true, this expedition will cost you a lot of gold. I doubt the treasure at the centre of the island could be worth the gold that you might have to pay."

"No, no, you were not paying attention when I was speaking. The expedition has two objectives, but the destruction of the _inferi_ is rather more important than the treasure itself. If the commander of this army were to arise tomorrow, can you imagine the destruction and hell that he can unleash on us all?"

Rimclaw shivered as his eyes narrowed.

"Who are you, young sir," he asked in a clipped tone, "who has knowledge of hidden armies of dead creatures, and why do you seek their destruction?"

Harry was beyond irritated. Why can't people keep their noses to themselves? What is it that makes them poke unto others' business?

"You would do well to keep your curiosity to yourself, elder goblin," Harry replied in a soft voice, which had a definite edge to it. "As it is, you are already on thin ice here, do not forget. It will take just one single piece of parchment, and your beloved bank in London will no longer be in your possession."

Rimclaw deflated, although the wary look in his eyes did not disappear.

"I apologize, Master Rodriguez, for transgressing my bounds."

"As you should," was all that Harry said.

Snarkhook was following the conversation in a dazed state. Here was a human barely out of his nappies, who should not be even able to hold an intelligent conversation, and yet what he was seeing was just the opposite. The little snot of a human had the goblin elder literally on the knees. He could, at this moment, ask for anything from the bank, and the bank would have to comply. If this were the Dark Lord, or any of his minions, the bank would have been doomed. The little human was not here to destroy them, however. The goblins had landed themselves in this predicament themselves. The human had just come to conduct some business!

"Master Rodriguez, please do not worry about the expedition. The bank will take care of the problem of the _inferi_, and we will deliver to you the treasure that you seek. You need not pay for the services of the goblin nation for this one service; however, we sincerely request that you kindly overlook our follies this day."

"I will pay for your services, elder goblin; money is no object to my grandfather. However, for the transgression that you committed against my grandfather by using your restricted instrument, I seek a different payment."

"And pray tell, what is it that you seek," Rimclaw asked warily.

"There is a dark artifact in the vaults of one of the convicted death eaters. I want the dark curses and enchantments on it destroyed in my presence. You can return the artifact to the vault after the destruction of the said curses and enchantments. It is a risk to the continued existence of our society as we know it. I do not seek it for my own use."

Rimclaw was intrigued beyond measure. Who was this wizard? He had power levels hitherto unmatched. He knew of armies dark and dead, but just seeked to destroy them. He knew of dangerous artifacts stored deep in the bowels of the bank, which again he seeked to destroy. He had the goblin nation by the scruff of its neck, and all he seeked was merely peanuts in compensation, which did not even bring him any monetary benefit? He had heard that the most powerful of the known wizards, Merlin, lived his life in the reverse. Could it be?…

"Tell us of it and it shall be done before you leave the bank," Rimclaw hurriedly replied. He was going scott free very easily.

"Have you heard of one Bellatrix Lestrange? In her vault, you will find a cup with a badger engraved on it, also known as the cup of Hupplepuff. The cup has subsequently been imbued with Dark Magics…"

"A Founder's artifact? But I thought you wizards revered the Founder's artifact, since there are so few of them…"

"Do not question my intentions, elder Rimclaw; it gains none of us anything."

"Very well. Snarkhook, retrieve what you know you must, and meet us in the ritual chamber in 10 minutes. Hurry."

Harry sat back on the couch. If all went to plan, by the time sun rose on a new day, Voldemort would have lost a piece of his soul, and a fearsome army of the undead, which he had collected during his first reign. From his talks with Albus, he knew that he had kept the army in reserve, to be used when he was losing. Initially, he had used them aggressively, but as he started winning, he just kept increasing the size of his army without actually using it. This would be a mighty blow to Voldemort if he ever gained body in this time line…


	16. letters

_To_

_**The Minister Of Magic,**_

_**Wizarding Britain.**_

_**Dated: 7**__**th**__** July, 1987**_

_Sir,_

_This is to bring to your notice that a goblin battalion of 3300 warriors and warders have been commissioned for an extremely risky and treacherous excavation project. These said goblins will be congregating at a site south of London._

_Although this is a private commission, the large number of goblins involved has forced us to acquire permission from the commissioner to let the wizarding government of Britain be informed of the impending congregation._

_Please be informed that this is __**not a military gathering.**__ We are merely executing a private commission. The gathering will take place at 5:oo pm under full muggle repelling wards and other standard precautions._

_Although it goes against our privacy policies, the Ministry of Magic has been granted the permission to send an attaché to the said event by our magnanimous commissioner to avoid any confusion between the two races. If the ministry wishes to witness the event, please ensure that the appointed attaché is at the Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch, London latest by 4:00 pm today, with the appropriate documents._

_If the Minister so desires, he may attend to the proceedings, besides the appointed attaché. No one else will be allowed to proceed to the site._

_Thanking you,_

_**Ragnok,**_

_**Manager,**_

_**Gringotts,**_

_**Diagon Alley Branch,**_

_**London.**_

****

****

**_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

****

_To_

_**Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, **_

_**Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts, Head Of wizengamot, supreme Mugwump.**_

_**Dated: 7**__**th**__** July, 1987**_

_Sir,_

_This is to bring to your notice that a goblin battalion of 3300 warriors and warders have been commissioned for an extremely risky and treacherous excavation project. These said goblins will be congregating at a site south of London._

_Although this is a private commission, the large number of goblins involved has forced us to acquire permission from the commissioner to let the wizarding government of Britain be informed of the impending congregation._

_Please be informed that this is __**not a military gathering.**__ We are merely executing a private commission. The gathering will take place at 5:oo pm under full muggle repelling wards and other standard precautions._

_However, an invitation has been extended to you as the personal guest of the commissioner, and as the greatest warrior alive at the side of light._

_Your invitee requests that you will not try to enquire about his identity, and suggests that you must attend this expedition. Your invitee is also of the personal opinion that this site is of personal importance to you in your quest for information regarding one of your brightest students, one Tom Marvolo Riddle._

_Please destroy the letter after you have perused it to your satisfaction, because of reasons your invitee is sure you understand._

_We expect to see you at the Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch, London, latest by 4:00 pm today._

_**Ragnok,**_

_**Manager,**_

_**Gringotts,**_

_**Diagon Alley Branch,**_

_**London.**_


	17. Four out of Five not bad

While Albus Dumbledore and Minister Fudge were reading letters of invitation to a mysterious expedition, an expedition was already under way at a worn down shack at a small village of Little Hangleton. Goblin records confirmed that the shack belonged to the now defunct Gaunt line, and since the family was strictly patriarchic, the property was to be considered abandoned, or MoM property, if it so wanted to claim it. In the meanwhile, there was no law to stop bounty hunters from the premises.

The two teams which approached the property found no wards on the property. However, hidden under several dark curses, under the attic roof, a small ring with a strange coat-of-arms was discovered. Under strict instructions not to touch the ring with bare hands, the ring was transported to the ritual room of the bank, where the ring was 'decontaminated' by a process which had been undertaken earlier in the same room that very day…

--------------------------------------------

_To_

_Madam Amelia Bones, _

_Head of Department,_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement, _

_Ministry of Magic,_

_Wizarding Britain._

_Dated: 7__th__ July, 1987_

_Dear Madam Bones,_

_A place holding a cache of dangerous dark artifacts has recently come to my knowledge. If the DMLE is interested in confiscating the said cache of dark artifacts, please approach the Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch, London, latest by 3:30 pm, and ask for goblin master Flickaxe. On meeting the said the goblin, kindly show this letter to him._

_Please be informed that the visiting party will be entertained, if and only if, you, Madam Bones, are personally present. I have very little faith in the MoM, but know it for a certain fact that you are above reproach._

_You will be given the location of the said items, if you have in your possession a search warrant duly completed, only lacking the address of the place to be raided. You will have to come prepared to complete the raid within the hour. Please be informed that there will also be a small 'finder's fee'._

_Please do not be overly concerned about this 'finder's fee'. It will be explained to you when you meet master Flickaxe, and I am sure you will not mind obliging._

_Please be informed that the offer of information is good only if you reach the meeting point at the said time with the said document._

_May Merlin bless all your endeavors._

_Yours,_

_A concerned citizen._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The Great Hall of Hogwarts was buzzing with the usual chatter of the students at the lunch time. However, oblivious to all the chatter, the headmaster of the said school was deep in thoughts. He was remembering the time of struggle and strife, before a small child of fifteen months stopped one of the darkest lords known to wizard kind in his tracks. He also remembered the first visit that he had made to this said dark lord when he was only eleven years old. He remembered seeing in those young eyes awe at seeing magic in play.

For the next several years, he had watched from the shadows as the young boy grew in power. On several occasions, he had suspected that dark haired boy of various nefarious activities, but had never been able to collect enough evidence to prove either his innocence or his guilt. The most serious of those, while still in school, had involved the death of one student, and expulsion of another. Although it was clear to him that Hagrid had not been responsible for the death of Myrtle, and knew in his heart that Riddle was somehow involved, he had never been able to prove these things.

Albus Dumbledore broke from his musings, when the huge doors of the Great hall opened to show a small contingent of goblins marching into the halls. The whole hall fell silent as all eyes were fixed on the arriving uninvited guests. Albus noticed that although almost all of the goblins were dressed in rich robes, and only two of them looked armed, there were also two goblins who wore hooded robes. He also counted a total of 11 goblins.

The goblins walked up to the side door, while the lead goblin walked up to the head table.

"Headmaster, perhaps we could convene in a place more private than your dining halls? We realize that we come uninvited, but we recently came across some information that we believe you will love to have."

Albus looked at the goblin with a twinkle in his eyes, his fork still poised midway between his plate and mouth, where it was when the doors had opened, and wondered what the goblin could be talking about. Believing that he would get his answers faster if he talked to them, he got up, indicating Minerva and Severus to follow.

The headmaster led the small group of humans and goblins to the nearest empty classroom. Entering the classroom, he conjured enough chairs for everyone to be seated, while he looked at Severus to ward the room.

"We have taken care of that, headmaster. We came to you, headmaster, as we have already informed you, because we have information that you might be interested in. Along with the information, we are willing to provide some service that you no doubt will be in need of. However, we will need some information in return," the lead goblin spoke without waiting for the headmaster to go in to the formalities. They were running on very tight schedule here.

"And what gives you the right to just walk up to the headmaster, and demand such a thing, goblin?" sneered the greasy haired potions master.

"Severus! Let us hear them out," the headmaster reprimanded his potions master. He turned to the goblin who had spoken earlier.

"I am sorry I can not commit either ways, before knowing what we are talking about. I hope that is reasonable."

"Of course that is reasonable enough, headmaster. Let me begin by enquiring as to how many Founders' items do you have in your possession in the school? As far as we know, you have only two, both of them belonging to Godric Gryffindor? Correct me if I am wrong."

"No master goblin, your information is correct, but I fail to see where this conversation is headed." Albus could fathom no reason for such a question. He became excited when he realized that the goblins had probably come across another of the Founders' item, and perhaps from another Founder?

"As I can tell from the sudden increase in the twinkling of your eyes, headmaster, I believe you have a fair idea where this conversation is headed to. The question is, what do we get in return for handing it over to you? Of course, we will make sure it is not addled with curses, before we hand it over to you. We will also be willing to ward it in your office in a display, if you so want. You know that goblin warding skills far excel those of your own, right?"

Albus's eyes widened when he heard the offer. Not only were the goblins offering to hand over a Founders' item, they were willing to ward it in display in the headmaster's office. His eyes then narrowed when he realized that they had come searching for some information. What was the information that they so badly wanted?

"Master goblin, perhaps you have something in mind that I could offer?"

"Indeed, I have. Before we proceed, I would like to inform you that the information that we have come across pertains to the 'Diadem of Knowledge' of Lady Ravenclaw. However, it has been cursed and we will need to use a ritual room, before it will be safe for your display. That is why I have with me a full contingent of Curse breaker goblins."

"You mean to tell us that this artifact is hidden in Hogwarts itself," Minerva piped from Albus's side.

The lead goblin looked at her with a steady gaze.

"Why yes, we believe it to be so, if our information is correct, and we have no reason to not believe the information we have."

"State your terms, master goblin."

"Access to the names of all the muggleborn wizards and witches who did not attend Hogwarts, when they were offered a chance to do so in the last hundred years. Additionally, the names of all such children when they refuse to attend Hogwarts in future for such a time that Hogwarts has this knowledge in its possession. We would have liked to obtain the names of those muggleborn wizards and witches who did attend, but we hope to obtain them from MoM public records. After all, OWL and NEWT scores _are_ public records."

Albus eyes widened in surprise again. What possibly could the goblins need those names for? The goblins were forbidden to contact wizards and witches, until they were beneficiaries of Wills. The wizards and witches were free to establish contact with the goblins, but not the other way round.

"I am afraid that this will have to be decided by the Board of Governors. I would not have any objection to give such information personally, in exchange for one of the Founders' item, but the decision is not mine to make."

"I completely understand headmaster. But allow me to retrieve the diadem of Lady Ravenclaw and present it you as a token of our goodwill, and an indication that we do not wish to keep your heritage from you wizards. We will consider handing over other such items in future if your Board decides favorably about our request. I hope you know that there are safeguards in place in our treaties to prevent us from misusing any information that you give us."

"Yes, I know that master goblin, and that is the reason I am not overly worried about your request. Now, you were saying some thing about Lady Ravenclaw's diadem?"

"Indeed, but we do not know the lay out of your school, headmaster. Perhaps, you could help us?"

"What is the place that you are looking for?"

"Seventh floor corridor, I believe."

"Sure, please follow me."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later found a queer group of humans and goblins walking into seventh floor corridor of the Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Albus chuckled when he realized where they were.

"If I remember correctly, somewhere on this floor is a room, where Sybil dumps her empty sherry bottles; she said her inner eye showed her the room. I have personally never been able to find that room in the last seven years since she told me."

"Indeed headmaster, we are looking for the same room."

"You mean to tell me that there is such a room," Albus spoke in a mildly surprised voice.

"Yes gentlemen, now please be kind enough and find me the tapestry indicating, now what was it, o yes, 'Barnabas the Barmy' teaching trolls to dance?

The ensuing response included suppressed goblin chuckles to outrageous laughter from Severus Snape. Minerva had never seen Snape laughing!

"Oh, this is rich, teaching trolls to dance!"

"Professor, if you are done, we would like to get back to work," the lead goblin intoned seriously.

"This way, master goblin," came the voice of Albus as he led them to the end of the corridor. He had seen that tapestry quite a few times and had quite a laugh when he noticed it for the first time some time back.

"Since you were the one trying to find the room, headmaster, I will let you do the honors. Please think of a room where you can hide your potion master's bottle of grease which he applies in his hair. I am sure you must have wondered what his hair looks like without it," the lead goblin said, mirth shining in his eyes.

"Okay," Albus replied with a suppressed chuckle. If looks could kill, the lead goblin and his whole contingent would have keeled over on the spot by the murderous gaze of the potions master being sent their way.

"Now walk in front of this tapestry three times, while facing the other wall, thinking of such a room."

Albus felt somewhat foolish while doing so, but complied nonetheless.

He gasped when he saw a door appear in the blank stone wall right in front of his eyes. Hesitatingly, he held the door knob and opened the door.

The sight was not one that he had expected to see.

He was standing at the door of a room the size of a huge cathedral. High windows adorned three walls of the room, leaving a sheer expanse of stone to face the door. However the wall felt to be so far of in the distance, that Albus was sure it would take him several minutes to reach the end. Light poured down into room from all the windows which were richly littered along the walls. The room itself was filled with towers of nick-knacks, looking eerily like houses along alleys. Albus realized with a jolt that these things may have been lying here for centuries, accumulated from generations of Hogwarts inhabitants. There were alleyways and roads bordered by teetering piles of broken and damaged furniture, stowed away, perhaps, to hide the evidence of mishandled magic, or else hidden by castle-proud house-elves. There were thousands and thousands of books, no doubt banned or graffitied or stolen. There were winged catapults and fanged Frisbees, some still with enough life in them to hover half heartedly over the mountains of other forbidden items; there were chipped bottles of congealed potions, hats, jewels, cloaks; there were what looked like dragon eggshells, corked bottles whose contents still shimmered evilly, several rusting swords, and a heavy, bloodstained axe.

Beside Albus, Severus let loose a slow whistle. "Now, why didn't I know of this room when I was a student? Life would have been so much simpler!"

"You were a dungeon dweller, Severus. This is near my lions' den. You would never venture in these parts even if I offered you basilisk skin!" quipped Minerva.

"Too true, too true."

"Now, gentle wizards, and dear goblins, you know what you are looking for. Please spread around, and start searching. If you come across something which you think, might be what we are looking for; send a spark in the air. I will be along shortly to confirm your find. Do not touch it, it is cursed. It may hurt you," the voice of the lead goblin echoed in the room.

"Master Rodrip, I will be with you," he looked back at one of the goblins with a hood.

Rodrip nodded his head and marched straight into the room, looking left and right. He confidently walked into the leading alley and continued to walk, the lead goblin hurrying after him. All the others separated and walked into opposite directions, gradually picking up separate alleys to search in.

Not two minutes later, a spark shot up from the alley in which the lead goblin and 'Rodrip' had walked into. Hurriedly, Albus Minerva and Severus walked towards the alley to have a look at the 'Diadem of Knowledge' of Lady Rowena Ravenclaw.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The raiding party of Amelia Bones visited the Malfoy manor with a goblin representative. The goblin representative identified a black old leather bound diary, titled T.M.Riddle, as the finder's fee. The diary was 'decontaminated' in front of the eyes of Madam Bones before she left the bank.

The curse breaker's contingent visiting Hogwarts made short work of the dark curses on the diadem, and purified it in no time. It was then put up in a display in the headmaster's office, along with the sword of Godric, and his hat, Alistair, and the wards were keyed to the headmaster. The goblins left after the headmaster promised them to tell them the Boards' answer within the week, and expressed hope that it would be favorable. The lead goblin reminded Albus that he should not miss the invitation extended to him for the evening.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Amelia returned to her office after a successful raid, MoM coffers richer by 78,000 galleons, 2000 per galleon for 39 confiscated dark artifacts, and Lucius in Azkaban for a mandatory 3 month stay for being found in the possession of more than 20 dark artifacts, she found another letter signed by 'a concerned citizen'. She wondered how the letters were finding their way directly to her desk rather than to her secretary, but tore open the seal nevertheless.

Now this was going to cause an uproar, she thought as she completed reading the letter.

_A/N: the text bordered by '' has been picked directly from HBP, I initially thought to write it in my own words, but later decided not to try to get 'one over JRK', so there you are. I have decided to not give time to Remus to visit Sirius in Azkaban. Amelia has received hints that a travesty of justice was made during one of the trials and we will come face to face with our favorite family in one of the next few chapters. Till then……_


	18. Rat

_A/N: the last chapter had some editing mistakes. A part of the description of the 'room of requirements' has been directly picked up from HBP. I tried to highlight that portion by asterisk marks. However, the markings disappeared while loading the chapter. I am sure you all could make out where it was copied._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_It felt like he had been in this darkness for eternity. Ever since he had been hit by the rebounded curse, he knew only pain and nothing else. Slowly, and gradually, he had become used to the pain, but it never left him. He had since floated along, feeling nothing but his pain. Sometimes, he would feel the stirrings of life near himself, and he would cling to them. These little things, which had a power in them, which he did not have, lessened the pain. He had come to realize what it was that he lacked. He had no life force! So he sucked the life force from the little things when ever he came in contact with them, what he later realized must be small animals._

_But they never lasted. The larger ones sustained and dulled his pain for weeks, but the smaller ones would be spent in hours. He longed for some creature that would sustain him for long enough to let him get over the pain completely. Once he would be free of the pain, then he would be able to think clearly, and plan for a way to end the pain. But it had been ages now, and he knew not how much longer he would suffer._

_He wondered if his followers were looking for him. Did they think he was dead? No, they knew that he had gone beyond all mortals to ensure that he did not die. They would be waiting for his return. And return he would! He would not be denied! The world that had given him misery when he was young, would receive it back ten fold! The fools who lorded over the poor would lick his boots. And he would destroy all who came in the way of his revenge. He would not be denied._

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Arthur Weasley loved his job. Although the job did not pay much, what he got was enough to sustain his large family, and he loved his job. He had been offered quite a few promotions over the years, but Arthur had politely refused. In the last 15 years, there had been three ministers, and each one had offered him a more paying job, once as undersecretary itself, but Arthur loved his job. In his department, he frequently got to meet muggles, and he liked to see what new things they had invented. Really, Arthur loved his job, and would not give it for all the gold, well..., figuratively speaking…

However, never in his 18 years of service had he received a summons from the head of DMLE. His notices generally came from the department of communication, or the patrolling auror units, who directly reported to his department. This was the first time that he was going to be in another head's office. Technically, he held a post equivalent to the head of any other department, and the letter had been worded as a request, but he also knew that head of DMLE could summon anyone to the office, even the Minister.

So, it was with trepidation that he entered the DMLE head's office. There were five aurors waiting in the outer room, however, the secretary ushered him inside as soon as he came.

"Come Arthur, sit. What will you have? Tea, coffee, butter beer?" Amelia asked him, looking over her monocle.

"Tea would be nice Amelia. What can I do for you today?" Arthur said as he sat on the chair facing Madam Bones.

"Tell me, Arthur, are all you children at the home at the moment?"

"Well, Bill has joined Gringotts after he graduated this year, but all others would be at home. Why do you ask?"

"I have my reasons, Arthur. Tell me about their pets."

"Pets? You want to know about the pets of my children? Is this some joke or what?"

"Don't worry, Arthur, I know what I am doing. Just answer my questions."

"Well, Charlie has an owl, and Percy has a pet rat, but the other kids don't go to Hogwarts yet, so they don't have pets."

"Do you remember any distinguishing marks about your children's pets?"

"Hmm, Charlie's owl is a tawny, but it has several ring-like markings on its left wing in black. Percy's rat is a rather normal house rat; fat, grey and ugly. And yes, it has a toe missing."

Amelia rose from her seat, indicating Arthur to the door.

"Come Arthur, we have work to do."

Arthur followed Amelia in the outer waiting room, where he had seen five aurors waiting.

"Gentlemen, we are going to the Burrow. I am sure all of you know where it is"

Arthur followed Amelia, bewildered, to the apparition point in the DMLE head's office. It was the only place inside the ministry from where you could apparate.

When Arthur appeared at the outer border of the Burrow, he noted that all the five waiting aurors had apparated with him and Amelia to the Burrow.

"Arthur, when we reach the house, tell everyone that we were just passing by on some official business and would leave after a cup of tea. Can you manage that?"

"Sure Amelia, I will do that."

When Arthur opened the door to the Burrow and led them to the living room, Molly came bustling from the kitchen where she was making preparations for the dinner.

"Oh, Arthur, you are home early…"

Molly abruptly stopped in her tracks, when she saw the others with her husband.

"Arthur, is everything okay?"

"Oh, yes, Molly, we were just passing by, and I suggested we could have a cup of tea. Can we?"

Molly looked surprised for a moment, but then a smile appeared on her lips.

"Of course, Arthur. Hello Amelia. Have a seat, all of you. I will just get you some refreshments."

"Hello Molly. Where are the kids?"

"They must be in the backyard. I will just give them a shout."

Shortly there was a sea of red in the living room. Molly introduced them to Amelia.

Unobtrusively, the aurors became busy as soon as they realized all of them had entered. In no time, the room was covered in anti-apparition, anti-portkey and ant-animagus wards.

"So Percy, you would be joining Hogwarts this year?"

"Yes Ma'am," Percy replied shyly

"Don't be shy, come here."

Percy walked up to Madam Bones.

"I heard you have a cute little rat as a pet. Can I see it?"

"Of course, you can. I found him six years ago in our yard. He has been with me since then."

Amelia's eyebrows rose on her forehead. She did not miss the significance of the time period. Her eyes narrowed a bit as Percy took out a sleeping fat rat from his pocket and passed it to her.

"Craig, check it," Amelia said to one of her aurors, passing the rat to him.

Percy started to panic.

"What's going on? Is my rat ill? Why do you want to get it checked?"

"It's ok Percy. Your father told us that your rat has recently been sleeping a lot. Auror Craig had an 'O' in Care of Magical Creatures NEWT. I just asked him to see if your rat is ok, or it needs some medical attention."

"Oh, alright then. Go ahead."

The aurors all held their wands in their hand, ready for any action. No one except Arthur noticed this, however.

Auror Craig placed the rat on the floor. He fired a charm on the sleeping rat.

Immediately the rat began to morph, growing in size. In no time, the rat was replaced by a fat balding man.

"Peter Pettigrew!" Amelia gasped.

Four stunning spells hit the fat man before he even realized what was happening.


	19. see you soon

_Severus Snape,_

_This letter is charmed for your eyes only. Nevertheless, destroy the letter after you have read it._

_I am in need of your services. I realize that you do not know who I am, and you would most likely reply that you are not for hire. But please hear me out before you refuse. _

_Send a reply in the name of Rodrick at Gringotts if you can meet me on Saturday. Come alone to the bank on Saturday. I will find you._

_Do not tell Albus. If you do not come alone, I am afraid we will not be able to meet._

_Hoping to be soon,_

_Your employer._

_------------------------------------------------------------#---------------------------_

The wizarding world was in uproar on Wednesday, 8th of July, 1987. Peter Pettigrew, hitherto believed killed by Sirius Black, was alive! Since Sirius did not have a dark mark, he could not be claimed as a death eater even. To top it all, records showed that he had not even received a trial!

Peter Pettigrew had been given Veritaserum under a hurriedly convened Wizengamot's watchful eye. His subsequent confessions under the influence of the truth serum had clearly exonerated Sirius Black of all the charges filed against him. The MoM had awarded Sirius Black an immediate pardon and a compensation of 60,000 galleons for his six years of unlawful imprisonment.

When Mr. Black had been brought from the prison of Azkaban to the docks on the mainland, and handed over his pardon letter and the key to a new vault with his compensation money, he had been immediately whisked away by the waiting goblins, to their bank. One hour later, the manor of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black at 12, Grimmauld Place, was crawling with goblins, looking for a certain locket, with a stylized 'S' engraved on it.

Two hours after the release of Sirius Black, the ritual room of the bank was used for the fourth time in two days to 'decontaminate' a dark artifact.

Three hours later, several heads of old families died in an explosion in a private meeting room at one of the posh establishments in Diagon End. They had been invited to a private meeting by a foreign delegate, who was exploring a tie up with these families in a business venture. The news was missed the next day, over all the furor of Sirius Black being exonerated, and Peter Pettigrew being found alive, and sentenced to Azkaban for betraying the Potters, and killing twelve muggles, and aiding the Dark Lord Voldemort. Prominent among these were the heads of the families Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Rookwood, Avery and some even employed by the MoM, like Macnair.

The same night, there was a break-in at Mr. Crouch's house. However, nothing was reported stolen. Nevertheless, Mr. Crouch was very distraught, and took a leave of absence from work for a few days.

Several days later, all the convicted death eaters were found dead in their cells. They all appeared to have died in their sleep. Detailed medical examination revealed that all of them had been poisoned, but the report was suppressed, and the only copy of the results of the examination was destroyed on the orders of the minister to prevent another scandal. An additional death of note, of a person who was not a convicted death eater, was Lucius Malfoy.

_In the hearts of a dark forest in Albania, a loud screeching wail could be heard for several minutes before everything fell eerily silent. The noise coincided with the 'decontamination' of a locket in the ritual room of Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch._

At the same time, a boy in Surrey felt a perennial weight lifted from his head. His scar started to shrivel and disappeared in few days, leaving behind a slightly pale skin in its wake. The 'lightning bolt scar' of the-boy-who-lived was no more!

--------------------------

A/N: so there you have the first part of the exile of rama. Some may call the end anti climatic, but that's the way I am. 'Exile of rama: redux' will be coming soon. Can you believe it! I wrote a complete story in less than 35,000 words, without a beta. Actually, one person offered, but the response time mentioned did not suit me. Sorry, but please don't mind. I like to see my chapters up as soon as possible. I have posted two chapters on the same day several times. May be next time I will go slower…


	20. chapter six and half,Ginny's tryst with

_This is the missing chapter,which i had intended towrite after the sixth chapter.Also,a lot of similar chapters were planned originally when i had concieved the story,but somehow they got swept away in the process.It was because of these planned chapters that i had originally rated the story as 'M'.I had to choose between down rating the story,or to add at least one chapter to justify the rating.So here it is,'Ginny's tryst with Harry'..._

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Ginny watched as Harry and the old man who looked like the headmaster went into the castle. She began to feel a strange nervousness when they disappeared from her sight. Something was not right!

Ginny decided that she would get to the bottom of the matter. She left her seat and started for the castle. She headed for the Gryffindor tower. Most probably, Harry would have gone with the old man there only. She intended to try to listen in on their conversation, without telling them, of course.

When Ginny reached the Gryffindor common room, it was empty. No one was in the tower at the moment. The tower was never this quite, except when she would get up in the middle of the night sometimes from her nightmares. Even then, you could hear the snores of several children as they blissfully slept off the night. This quiet was eerie!

Ginny walked around the common room, looking at the various nick-knacks spread about in the room. Some one had forgotten to collect his gobstones set from the corner table. Beside it were to butter beer caps. On the next table, she could see several parchments, which were scribbled on, and probably abandoned now; someone must have been doing some homework.

She walked up to the couch in front of the fire. This was the unsaid possession of 'the trio'. No one, not even the senior year students would claim the seat, even if it was empty. It went unsaid in the tower that the couch was reserved for Harry and his friends. Ginny sat down on the couch and stared in the fire.

Absent mindedly, she got up after some time and started walking towards the boys' dormitory. She passed the first years' dorm, then the second year, then the third year dorm, and continued walking. Soon she reached the sixth year boys' dorm. Her brother used to sleep here. More importantly, Harry slept here. Suddenly, the feeling of wrongness came back in full force. Ginny sat down heavily on the bed by the door on the right.

She had no idea why she was getting this feeling. But she intended to find out. And only Harry could give her the answers, she knew deep down in her heart.

After an uncertain amount of time had passed, and she was still sitting on the bed, she heard faint footsteps from the common room. The steps started up on the stairs towards the boys dormitories, and were continuously coming nearer. In no time, Harry walked in through the door of the dormitory, but stopped in his tracks when he saw her sitting on his bed.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?"

Ginny did not answer. She just looked up at him, and into his shining emerald eyes. There was deep pain in there. There was also a feeling of loss on those eyes. And there was a feeling of determination. Harry was going off to do something.

When Ginny did say anything, Harry started to walk around her. He reached his trunk and started to put his things into it. Ginny watched in alarm as Harry continued to pack his things swiftly.

"Harry? Are you going somewhere?" Ginny asked curiously.

Harry looked at her, but did not say anything. He was mulling something in his head, but then shook his head slightly.

"Yes," came the soft reply.

Ginny walked up to Harry and held him by his shoulders.

"Harry! You are hiding something. Where are you going? Who all are going with you? Do Ron and Hermione know?"

"Calm down Ginny. I am going with headmaster's brother Aberforth. The others don't know, but I will tell them when I meet them after packing my things. It is imperative that I leave as soon as possible."

"And when will you come back?"

Harry did not say anything. When Ginny tried to look him in the eye, he averted his gaze, and started looking everywhere. Ginny wrapped him in her arms.

"Oh, Harry! Tell me that you are not going to do something dangerous! Tell me!"

Harry wrapped his own arms around Ginny and held her tightly, but did not say anything. He laid his chin on her head. Ginny sighed and sagged in his arms. It felt so good in his arms, with his head resting on her own. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, she could even hear it!

"Ginny, I…"

"Shhh. Don't say anything. It's ok. I know there are things you must do, and they are dangerous. I won't stop you. Just promise me you will come back to me."

Harry still did not say anything. When Ginny looked up, his eyes were brimming with tears.

"Ginny, I am going on a dangerous mission. I won't tell others, but I am not sure we will be able to return safely. Stealth is important; else we would take a lot of others with us. I don't know if I will return." I tear escaped from his right eye and slipped down his cheek.

Ginny looked quietly in his eyes. They were torn in conflict, but underneath shone a strong determined gleam. He did not need her to cajole him. He needed her to be strong. So she would be strong. For him. She would be his rock. She reached up and kissed away the slipped tear. Harry was startled.

"you will do well, and come back to me, I know." Even as she said this, the wrongness that had been plaguing her for some time, crashed full force in to her consciousness. Now she knew definitely that she was probably seeing Harry for the last time. But she would not be weak.

she reached up and kissed him again, this time on his lips.It was really a soft peck,just her lips brushing against his for a moment, and she withdrew slowly.harry bent his head forward to rets his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes, searching something. Apparently, he found what he was looking for, and soon enough,Ginny could see his face looming ever so close to her own.

This time their lips met urgently,crashing into each other. His lips devoured hers hungrily,and his tongue snaked on her lower lip, caressing it,asking permissin to enter.Ginny parted her lips just a fraction, and immediately,his tongue darted into her mouth,exploring ravenously, afraid that he would never get another chance.

Ginny battled with Harry's tongue for dominance,and soon pushed him back into his own mouth,her tongue following his.Her hands, meanwhile,had a mind of their own.One of them was comfortable nestled in Harry's untameable mop that he called hair,while the other hand was wrapped firmly around his neck.

Ginny felt a jolt of pleasure run along her spine, when she felt his calloused hands make contact with her soft skin over her quidditch toned belly.Somehow, Harry's hands had found a way through her robes, and were now exploring along her sides,and her belly,and her back, and...everywhere.Soon, one of the hands reached the hem of her short top,and continued exploring,pausing suddenly when it reached her breast.

Knowing that Harry won't go any further, Ginny removed her hand from his hair,and brought it down to meet Harry's hand from over her robe,and pressed it softly against her own breast.She could feel Harry's surprise,and then his acceptance of her permission,but Ginny broke into a moan,when the hand disappeared from over her breast,and crawled back down the way it had come,till it reached the hem of her top.

Without warning,the hand slipped under the hem of her top.A lightning of pleasure reached her in a rush,when she felt the hand cupping her bare breast,for she was not wearing a bra underneath. The hand palyed softly with her breast,pressing it in all directions, pinching her nipple,pulling at it softly.She moaned as she pressed herself into Harry,trying to get more out of the touch.She didn't realise that he was not braced again anything, and she found herself tumbling over Harry onto his bed,with her on top.Her breast was crushing against his hand,and she could feel every muscle of his pushed flush againgst her.The fall abruptly ended the battle of their tongues,and she looked him into the eyes,begging him not to stop now.She knew it was her last chance to be with him.

Slowly,she let her fingers work on his robes.She unclasped them,as Harry himself was busy divesting her of her meagre clothes,which she had adorned under her own robe on the hot day.Soon,two completely naked bodies were lying on top of each other,hormones raging wild in their blood streams,and no one to interrupt them...


End file.
